mow down

en-verb

mow down (third-person singular simple present mows down, present participle mowing down, simple past mowed down, past participle mown down)

mows down (present singular third-person)
mowing down (participle present)
mowed down (past)
mown down (participle past)

The simplest rejoinder to all of Daenerys’ justifications is that this bloodshed could have been avoided. She was given a moment to choose, and she chose blind vengeance, the kind that eliminates any benevolence she hoped to bring to the seven kingdoms by burning it right out of the minds of anyone who saw her astride Drogon, mowing down men, women, and children with abandon.

2019 May 12, Alex McLevy, “Westeros faces a disastrous final battle on the penultimate Game of Thrones (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-05-15

[T]heir machine-gunners mowed down wave after wave of counterattacking Chinese.

1952 October 27, “War in Korea: Bloodshed in the Hills”, in Time

(transitive, figuratively, by extension) To kill or slaughter, or to injure by knocking down, especially in large numbers and in a ruthless manner.


rogue elephant

(by extension) Someone or something that is large, dangerous, and unpredictable.


first love

[A]fter I made the personal acquaintance of Mr. Thrall's chef, Anatole, I found my affections dividing themselves between him and his lordship's man Robert, my first love.

1907, William Dean Howells, chapter 13, in Through the Eye of the Needle: A Romance

(by extension) The first person to be the object of one's romantic affection.

初戀情人

object of one's first romantic affection

He had a very strong and faithful attachment for places: Chatham, I think, being his first love in this respect.

1897, Mamie Dickens, chapter 1, in Charles Dickens—My Father as I Recall Him

Even though he made his millions from refrigerators, radios, scalp exercisers, bed coolers and sundry other gadgets, Powel Crosley Jr.'s first love was always the automobile.

1952 July 28, “Mergers: Love's Labor Lost”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) The thing, place, or activity of which one is fondest; one's most fundamental interest or attachment.

erste Liebe

the latter only when this interest started very early in life


stabby

en-adj

stabby (comparative stabbier, superlative stabbiest)

stabbier (comparative)
stabbiest (superlative)

This fool is starting to make me feel stabby. Coming back to one of his threads is like a scab you want to pick but you just know it will get infected, yet you feel oddly compelled to see just how much of a fool he has made of himself.

2001 March 18, "GROGtheNailer", “Re: HH2002: ReAd ThIs 3dO !!!”, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.sports (Usenet)

Some of the tasks can be a little difficult, and thus enjoyable, but all in all they left me feeling depressed and stabby (when you feel like stabbing someone).

2003, "NemeLynx", Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc review, XBoxAddict.com, 18 March 2003

(And now that I’ve done this, you’ll suddenly begin noticing – if you haven’t already – my evil molesting of grammar and inappropriate use of punctuation, and feel totally stabby whenever I make a really obvious mistake. But I’m not a real journalist! I’m just a small town girl, living in a lonely world!)

2008 November 20, Jess McGuire, “Nice Work, The Age!”, in Defamer Australia

Letters and punctuation are nothing but code for our thoughts and ideas. Why then do I feel all stabby when I get a message that ends with three short marks: a colon, a hyphen and a parenthesis?

2009 November 30, Mary Elizabeth Williams, “Death to Smiley”, in Salon

The alarm clock stung a bit more today. The lineup at the coffee drivethru was longer. You felt a little bit more stabby in the gridlocked traffic.

2010 January 9, Yukon Jack, “Back to the Daily Grind”, in Edmonton Sun

Publishers, if you're not introducing significant new gameplay features, you shouldn't pretend to be releasing a brand-new game. It makes gamers stabby.

2010 January 29, Joe Rybicki, “Music games need to refocus, not reboot”, in Computer World

In the 2007 article, "From the 'Things that make us stabby' files," Bitch editor/creative director Andi Zeisler briefly describes a Howard University student's thwarted attempts at getting a rape kit after visiting two different hospitals (Howard University and George Washington) and getting the D.C. police involved.

2010 April 12, Kelsey Wallace, “Rape: Still not an 'official crime,' still making us stabby”, in Bitch Magazine

"The Pope Speaks Out Against Atheism", reported a couple of stabby blog links.
Shock horror! Next thing you'll be telling me that the Pope believes in God. Disgusting behaviour for a religious leader/world leader person (except when the Dalai Llama says it because he's cute like Yoda).

2010 September 20, CJ Lambert, “The Pope, Pedobear and Twitter”, in 3 News

(slang, by extension) angry or irritated


last gasp

(by extension) The point of death, or the last period of one's life.


money's worth

Carl Edwards spent most of his Saturday evening trying to get to Kyle Busch’s rear bumper. Once he finally got there, Edwards made sure he got his money’s worth.

2008 August 24, Dave Ongie, “Edwards eases Busch aside, claims Sharpie 500 victory”, in timesnews.net, US, retrieved 2011-04-20

"Listen, Mikey," she said, "when somebody tries to bully you, just punch him on the end of the nose the way you did old Panfilo. […] [Y]ou be just as mean as you want to be and at least give him his money's worth.

2007, J. P. S. Brown, The World in Pancho's Eye, page 220

(idiomatic, by extension) Recompense or just deserts, especially as resulting from dealing with a perceived injury or injustice.


secern

en-verb

secern (third-person singular simple present secerns, present participle secerning, simple past and past participle secerned)

secerns (present singular third-person)
secerning (participle present)
secerned (participle past)
secerned (past)
secern (infinitive)

PIE word
 *swé
Learned borrowing from Latin sēcernere, the present active infinitive of sēcernō (“to put apart, divide, separate, sever, sunder; (figuratively) to disjoin, dissociate, part; to discern, distinguish; to exclude, pull aside, set aside, reject”), from sē- (prefix meaning ‘apart; aside; away’) + cernō (“to divide, separate; to distinguish, sift; to perceive, see; to comprehend, discern, regard, understand; to decide”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to divide, separate, sift”)).
Senses 1.3 and 2.2 (“synonym of secrete”) derive from the use of the Latin word sēcernere to translate Ancient Greek ἀποκρίνειν (apokrínein), the active infinitive participle of ἀποκρίνω (apokrínō, “to set apart, separate; to choose; to reject on inquiry; to answer, reply”).

der

(by extension) To separate (something from other things) in the mind; to discriminate, to distinguish.


cataphatic

From Ancient Greek καταφατικός (kataphatikós, “affirmative”).

(by extension) That which actively defines a thing by describing what it is characteristic thereof.


on one's last legs

My computer's on its last legs; it crashes running Minesweeper.

[T]he wood was main dark, but had a kind of a low glow in it like a fire on its last legs.

1905, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Beach of Falesa”, in Island Nights' Entertainments

(idiomatic, by extension) About to lose viability or become defunct.


Silent Sam

From silent (“speechless, mute”) + Sam (“diminutive of male given name Samuel”). From ante 1920.

"I've named my new noiseless aeroplane—Army Air Scout—I've named that Silent Sam. Wait until you hear it, or rather, don't hear it, and I think you'll agree with me. Silent Sam for Uncle Sam!"

1919, Victor Appleton, chapter 17, in Tom Swift and His Air Scout

Or if you're a coward, there's Silent Sam ($1950), an automated early-warning safety robot flagman.

1977 July, Richard West, “Reporter: Law and Order”, in Texas Monthly, volume 5, number 7, page 64

(informal, by extension) A machine, device, etc. which operates without making noticeable sound.


legitimist

(by extension) Any proponent for the rule of a legitimate sovereign.


nicky-tam

From knickerbockers (due to the shape that the trouser legs adopt) + taum (a cord).

Interview with Sir Nicky Tam in the Aberdeen Voice.

See also "A Pair of Nicky-Tams".

(by extension) A simpleton or country yokel.


headshaking

en-noun

headshaking (countable and uncountable, plural headshakings)

(by extension) disagreement or disapproval


location, location, location

One could argue that sports are no different from fast foods—it's all location, location, location. Because the core sport product is a game form, simultaneously produced and consumed, it makes sense that the venue of that game form should maximize exposure.

2007, Bernard James Mullin, Stephen Hardy, William Anthony Sutton, Sport marketing, Human Kinetics, page 345

Theatre is all about location, location, location. More than most art forms, it is rooted in a specific time and place.

2011, Aleks Sierz, Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today, A&C Black, page 10

Location, location, location. The iPhone makes good use of knowing where you are in the Maps app and several other apps and by geotagging photos taken with its camera.

2011, Bob LeVitus, iPhone 4S For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, page 255

It's all about location, location, location, and Google's goggles will have a direct bead on you 24 hours a day.

2013, Wheeler Winston Dixon, Streaming: Movies, Media, and Instant Access, University Press of Kentucky, page 131


preadmission

A preadmission process; a process that precedes admission.

(by extension, health care) A preliminary process that precedes hospital admission for some interventional or surgical procedures.


literalistic

en-adj

literalistic (comparative more literalistic, superlative most literalistic)

more literalistic (comparative)
most literalistic (superlative)

Mr. Hagee’s views flow out of his adherence to what is known in evangelical circles as premillennial dispensationalism, a literalistic approach to biblical prophecy that places a special emphasis on the role of the nation of Israel in the end of history.

2008 May 23, Neela Banerjee, “McCain Cuts Ties to Pastors Whose Talks Drew Fire”, in New York Times

(broadly) Of or pertaining to literalism or literalists.


girus

Blend of giant + virus; coined by J M Claverie, H Ogata, S Audic, C Abergel, K Suhre, P E Fournier, in a 2006 paper in Virus Research (DOI 10.1016/j.virusres.2006.01.008).

(by extension, informal) Synonym of giant virus


Old Low Franconian

The particular variety of Old Low Franconian spoken in the cultural centers of Flanders and Brabant is called Old West Low Franconian and is the ancestor ultimately of Dutch.

2010 (originally 2004), Benjamin W. Fortson IV, Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, series: Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics, 2nd ed., p. 371

Old West Low Franconian
Old West Low Franconian

(broad sense) The above, including also the ancestors of the languages of the eastern Netherlands (Limburgish) and the Low Franconian varieties spoken in Germany. (In this view, the ancestor of Dutch is considered to be Old West Low Franconian)


tin Lizzie

Unknown, perhaps from the use of Lizzie as a generic name given to horses.

"It's a ottomobile. . . . It's a second-hand tin Lizzie," said Walter. "D'you know what that means? It means a flivver."

1921, Booth Tarkington, chapter 6, in Alice Adams

The car he was driving was a shit-box, a real Tin Lizzie, older than Christ.

2003, Thomas Rendell Curran, Undertow, page 160

(informal, by extension) A small, unpretentious, vintage automobile, especially one that is in run-down condition.


knifeboard

(historical, by extension) An early bus with narrow, restrictive seating; a knifeboard bus.


forset

en-verb

forset (third-person singular simple present forsets, present participle forsetting, simple past and past participle forset)

forsets (present singular third-person)
forsetting (participle present)
forset (participle past)
forset (past)

From Middle English forsetten, from Old English forsettan (“to hedge in, obstruct, oppress”), equivalent to for- + set. Cognate with Dutch verzetten (“to move”), German versetzen (“to put, move, transfer, transpose”), Swedish försätta (“to go on, remove, set”).

cog

(transitive, dialectal, chiefly Scotland, by extension) To overburden or overpower with work; overwork; overtax.


octile

(statistics, by extension) A subset thus obtained.


hird

Borrowed from Norwegian hird, from Old Norse hirð, a borrowing from Old English hīred, hēored (“family, household”), from Proto-West Germanic *hīwarād (“relationship; family”), equivalent to hewe + rede. Cognate with German Heirat (“wedding”).

der

(by extension) The formal royal court household.


gum up

en-verb

gum up (third-person singular simple present gums up, present participle gumming up, simple past and past participle gummed up)

gums up (present singular third-person)
gumming up (participle present)
gummed up (participle past)
gummed up (past)

Erhard presumably felt it was no time to give his enemies grounds for charging him with gumming up relations with France.

1966 July 29, “Europe: Permanent Watch?”, in Time

In the old days, a storm like this would gum up the entire system.

2010 December 30, Sam Howe Verhovek, “Can Air Travel Be Improved in Bad Weather?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-08-15

(transitive, idiomatic, by extension) To make non-functional; to interfere with or put into a state of disorder; to ruin.


Acela

A shortening of Acela Express, from a marketing coinage based on acceleration and excellence.

First, the party’s non-Trumpist faction — embodied by senators like Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, various purple- and blue-state governors and most of the remaining Acela corridor conservatives, from lawyers and judges to lobbyists and staffers — […].

2021 January 12, Ross Douthat, “How the Republican Party Could Break”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(US, by extension) The Northeastern United States, generally north and east of Washington, D.C..


young Turk

Calque of French Jeune-Turc, from which also Turkish Jön Türk has been borrowed.

"What! Roscoe?" inquired the principal.
"Yes."
"Is he in any mischief?"
"Mischief? I should say so! Why, he's a regular young Turk."
"A young Turk? I don't think I understand you, James."
"I mean, he's a young ruffian."

1885, Horatio Alger, chapter 14, in Hector's Inheritance

He arrives at a time when jazz's discontented Young Turks have disdainfully turned away from their audiences and gone off to explore the way-out.

1966 September 30, “Jazz: Man with a Brain”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) A young person who agitates for political or other reform; a young person with a rebellious disposition.

愤青

idiomatic: young person who agitates for reform


body corporate

en-noun

body corporate (plural bodies corporate or body corporates)

bodies corporate (plural)
body corporates (plural)

From Middle English body corporat, body corporate (also body incorperate), equivalent to body + corporate (adjective) and modelled on Middle French corps corporat.


moonly

en-adj

moonly (comparative more moonly, superlative most moonly)

more moonly (comparative)
most moonly (superlative)

From Middle English monelich, from Old English mōnlīċ (“lunar”), equivalent to moon + -ly.


sunly

sunly (comparative sunlier or more sunly, superlative sunliest or most sunly)

sunlier (comparative)
more sunly (comparative)
sunliest (superlative)
most sunly (superlative)

From Middle English sonnelych, sunnelich, from Old English sunlīċ (“of the sun, solar”). Equivalent to sun + -ly.

inh

[...] than to win less never than alive less bigger than the least begin less littler than forgive it is most sane and sunly and more it cannot die than all the sky which only is higher than the sky [...]

1964, Norman Friedman, E. E. Cummings; the growth of a writer

(by extension in contrast with moonly) Sane.


grandstand play

en-noun

grandstand play (plural grandstand plays)

"He goes strike-breakin'. Grandstand play, that's what I call it. Gets his name in the papers an makes all the skirts he runs with fluster up an' say: ‘My! Some bear, that Roy Blanchard, some bear.’"

1913, Jack London, chapter 12, in The Valley of the Moon

Dag Hammarskjold and Russia's fellow Security Council members, bent on quieting the Congo turmoil, had watched the Soviets stir the fires of chaos, make a grandstand play to Africans by labeling the U.N. a partner to a colonial conspiracy.

1960 September 19, “The Unwelcome Guest”, in Time

“Congratulations to Governor Cuomo for another grandstand play for the attention of his millionaire friends at the expense of the real working people of New York,” Danny Donohue, president of the largest union of state workers, the Civil Service Employees Association, said in a statement.

2011 June 8, Danny Hakim, Thomas Kaplan, “Cuomo Urges Broad Limits to N.Y. Public Pensions”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-08-30

(idiomatic, by extension) An action or stratagem that is excessively dramatic or sensational and that is intended to appeal to members of the public or to a particular audience.


chart-topping

(figuratively, by extension) Very popular.


unrein

en-verb

unrein (third-person singular simple present unreins, present participle unreining, simple past and past participle unreined)

unreins (present singular third-person)
unreining (participle present)
unreined (participle past)
unreined (past)

(transitive, figurative, by extension) To remove restraint from.


quidditch

Muggle quidditch
Muggle quidditch#English


death spiral

But what followed for Lozano, his grieving family claims, was a death spiral into infantilism and madness.

1992 April 13, Anastasia Toufexis, Hannah Bloch, “Did His Doctor Love Him to Death?”, in Time, archived from the original on 2011-09-21

The markets are in meltdown, intensifying the downward pirouette of what the international financier George Soros has called "Greece's death spiral".

2010 April 28, Malcolm Brabrant, “Greece's ‘death spiral’”, in BBC News, retrieved 2011-09-14

When the price of Luna plummeted in May, TerraUSD fell in tandem — a “death spiral” that destabilized the broader market and plunged some investors into financial ruin.

2022 June 14, David Yaffe-Bellany, Erin Griffith, “‘The Music Has Stopped’: Crypto Firms Quake as Prices Fall”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(figurative, by extension) The situation or course of action of one who is on a path toward some sort of inevitable catastrophic failure.


shoe-leather

en-noun

shoe-leather (countable and uncountable, plural shoe-leathers)

They expended a lot of shoe-leather in hunting down every lead.

en:effort, especially investigatory effort

(by extension, idiomatic) The sweat of one's brow; effort; investigatory effort.


life story

I wish this guy would stop giving me his life story and just buy me a drink.

(by extension) A long detailed monologue to someone.


string together

en-verb

string together (third-person singular simple present strings together, present participle stringing together, simple past and past participle strung together)

strings together (present singular third-person)
stringing together (participle present)
strung together (participle past)
strung together (past)

When Romania did manage to string together some phases midway through the first half, England's discipline held firm, although on the whole it was a less focused display from the Six Nations champions in the second half.

2011 September 24, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport

(transitive, by extension, figurative) To put together in a series or sequence.


learning curve

Damen told BBC Sport: "The crowd were phenomenal they carried me through the last few metres. I don't think you can ever prepare enough for this event. It's a massive learning curve for me. From here, I'd like to work on my shorter distances and get some speed back."

2011 April 17, Jessica Creighton, “Mutai and Keitany secure Kenyan London Marathon double”, in BBC Sport

Toronto Transit Corporation had real issues. [...] My boss was removed in a coup three months after my arrival. I stood in and my learning curve went through the roof. Over five years, we went from being a laughing stock to winning awards.

2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 54

(by extension) A measure of how much there is to learn in a restricted amount of time


periagua

From Spanish piragua, in turn from Kari'na [Term?] (“dugout”). Doublet of pirogue.


slow roll

slow roll (third-person singular simple present slow rolls, present participle slow rolling, simple past and past participle slow rolled)

slow rolls (present singular third-person)
slow rolling (participle present)
slow rolled (participle past)
slow rolled (past)

The president is upset with congressional leaders for slow-rolling his core campaign promise, and for failing to defund sanctuary cities in their spending bill.

2018 March 21, Elaina Plott, “Trump Vents His Anger Over Border-Wall Funding”, in The Atlantic

(transitive, by extension) To obstruct by delaying; to slow-walk.


padawan

→ Japanese: パダワン (padawan)

→ Spanish: padawan

→ Portuguese: padawan

→ French: padawan

→ Korean: 파다원 (padawon)

→ Russian: падава́н (padaván)

→ Esperanto: padavano

Générations Star Wars et Science Fiction

Coined by American filmmaker George Lucas as early as 1973 (in the manuscript Journal of the Whills, where it was spelled padawaan), but not used in his Star Wars film franchise until Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace which premiered on 16 May 1999. The origin is unclear; suggestions include a derivation from Sanskrit पदवी (padavī) or Padawan, Sarawak.

coin

It is impossible for you to create this application using only the techniques you learned in the first two chapters, so read on young padawan!

2001, Joseph P. Russell, Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner series), Roseville, Calif.: Prima Tech, page 57

The root of your problem is just that, young padawan. Hmmm?

2005 November, Tom [Thomas A.] Limoncelli, “Automation”, in Mike Loukides, David Brickner, editors, Time Management for System Administrator, Sebastopol, Calif.: O'Reilly Media, page 160

A long, long time ago in a church far, far away, as a padawan youth pastor, I had a utopian view of what it'd be like to work in youth ministry. When I began my first youth ministry job, I half expected we'd sing "Kum-Bah-Yah" when we closed our staff meetings.

2009, Len Evans, “When You’re Fired”, in Tim Baker, editor, The Youth Worker Book of Hope: True Stories of Brokenness and Healing (Youth Specialities), Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, page 71

The off-season brought quarterback turnover, with Kurt Warner retiring and stalwarts like Donovan McNabb and Jake Delhomme changing teams. These veterans were not replaced by veterans or free agents, but by homegrown understudies, throwbacks to the days when Craig Morton spent four seasons behind Don Meredith in (depending on your point of view) apprenticeship or indentured servitude. The first of the padawan has already flopped. Matt Leinart appears to have once again returned a gift-wrapped starting job in Arizona.

2010 September 5, Mike Tanier, “The Fifth Down; new trends, new season”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2018-01-20

(by extension, humorous) Any apprentice or student.


ventosity

en-noun

ventosity (usually uncountable, plural ventosities)

From ventose + -ity, from Latin ventositas.

Both of them were youths of a Sprightly Genius, and of an Alert Apprehension, attended, in the case of GRANDOLPH, with a mighty heat and ebullition of Fancy, which led early to a certain frothiness or ventosity in speech.

1891, Various, Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 101, November 7, 1891

And surely no small number of those who are of a solid nature, and who, from the want of this ventosity, cannot spread all sail in pursuit of their own honour, suffer some prejudice and lose dignity by their moderation."

1907, John Morley, Studies in Literature

Seek something better than ventosity beneath the sky.

1925, Honore de Balzac, Droll Stories, Volume 1


mortal combat

mortal combat (countable and uncountable, plural mortal combats)

(by extension) Any very spirited competition between persons or groups.


command performance

command performance (plural command performances)

Some big client of Arthur's is coming to town, and Sally is supposed to entertain the man's wife. She says it's a command performance.

2002, Susan Wittig Albert, Indigo Dying, Penguin, published 2004, page 26

(idiomatic, by extension) A task, activity, or other assignment which one undertakes in order to satisfy someone in authority, such as an employer.


mama grizzly

(by extension, slang) A woman, especially a mother, who is extremely protective of a child or children.


mama bear

To my sister, Kristen, who wears the badge of motherhood with pride and inspires people to love without reservation, without judgment, without fear. She is a mama bear and a wonder to watch in action!

2009, Kimberly Van Meter, Kids on the Doorstep, dedication, page 6


chip shot

Barnes could hardly get the words out: "It's a, it's a, it's a chip shot for Democrats to take the House," he added.

2006 November 8, Andrew O'Hehir, “Fox: Just “a standard election””, in salon.com, retrieved 2011-10-17

(idiomatic, by extension) Something that is easy to do or to achieve.


euripus

Latin
, from Ancient Greek εὔριπος (eúripos); from εὖ (eû, “well”) + ῥιπή (rhipḗ, “rushing motion”).


rough-grained

en-adj

rough-grained (comparative more rough-grained, superlative most rough-grained)

more rough-grained (comparative)
most rough-grained (superlative)

(by extension, figurative) Having coarse traits of character; not polished or refined.


vesico-

(loosely, catachrestically) vesiculo-: vesicle (cutaneous or mucosal); blister.


outguard

(by extension) Anything for defense placed at a distance from the thing to be defended.


underpull

[…] steps stretching the height of the tower carry upward the longings of men who wished to escape the underpull of time and gravity.

Stimulating forces tingled more intensely from the lower underpull of gravity.

2009, Robert Klardon, Gravityball, page 149

(more generally) A downward pull or force.


outgaze

en-verb

outgaze (third-person singular simple present outgazes, present participle outgazing, simple past and past participle outgazed)

outgazes (present singular third-person)
outgazing (participle present)
outgazed (participle past)
outgazed (past)

(transitive, by extension) To stare out of countenance.


Jack-a-Lent

(obsolete, by extension) A simple fellow.


unplume

unplume (third-person singular simple present unplumes, present participle unpluming, simple past and past participle unplumed)

unplumes (present singular third-person)
unpluming (participle present)
unplumed (participle past)
unplumed (past)

(transitive, by extension) To humiliate.


reinless

en-adj

reinless (comparative more reinless, superlative most reinless)

more reinless (comparative)
most reinless (superlative)

(by extension) Not checked or restrained.


overleaven

en-verb

overleaven (third-person singular simple present overleavens, present participle overleavening, simple past and past participle overleavened)

overleavens (present singular third-person)
overleavening (participle present)
overleavened (participle past)
overleavened (past)

(obsolete, by extension) To change excessively; to spoil.


Ogygian

en-adj

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

more Ogygian (comparative)
most Ogygian (superlative)

/əʊˈdʒɪdʒi.ən/

Brainstuff is not lean stuff;—the brainstuff of fiction is internal history, and to suppose it dull is the profoundest of errors; how deep, you will understand when I tell you that it is the very football of the holiday-afternoon imps below. They kick it for pastime; they are intelligences perverted. The comic of it, the adventurous, the tragic, they make devilish, to kindle their Ogygian hilarity.

1885, George Meredith, Diana of the Crossways, Chapter 1

(by extension, comparative) primeval; of obscure antiquity.


chickenhead

(slang, by extension) An unintelligent and promiscuous woman.


coiffured

coiffured (comparative more coiffured, superlative most coiffured)

more coiffured (comparative)
most coiffured (superlative)

Liz Dalton Interiors called for spectacular treatments like crown moldings and coiffured overheads which Rybovich built from solid teak.

1999 May, Peter Frederiksen, “Top Shelf”, in Yachting, volume 185, number 5, page 91

One aesthetic feature of the interior prominently displayed in Zhongguo jianzhu was the coiffured ceiling .

2001, Joseph W. Esherick, Remaking the Chinese City, page 153

Interrogating coiffured musical learnings is much less about uncovering particular truth than generating multiplicities of thinking and enacting by observing learning experiences of a young child, while reflecting on the realities of my own lived and living pathways.

2013, Patricia Shehan Campbell, Trevor Wiggins, The Oxford Handbook of Children's Musical Cultures, page 347

(by extension, figurative) Resulting from elaborate training or construction.


senget

senget (comparative more senget, superlative most senget)

more senget (comparative)
most senget (superlative)

What do you dislike about your appearance? My hair. It’s very difficult to maintain and when it’s too long it becomes senget (untidy).

1991 March 26, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited

(Singlish, by extension, never attributive) Crooked or dishevelled.


krang

From Dutch kreng (“a carcass”), from Middle Dutch crenge (“carrion, carcass”), compare with Old English crinċġan (“to fall, yield, cringe”). Cognate with Danish kreng (“a carcass”).

cog

Sideways hurled The krang o ' a warld The sun has flensed Is lyin ' forenenst.

1926, Hugh MacDiarmid, Penny Wheep, page 57

(by extension) Anything that remains after flensing (not necessarily from a whale).


mournival

Perhaps from French mornifle (“a card game”).

It was, as we shall have occasion to emphasize, not an accidental circumstance that the terror-novel was in the fullest flush of popularity during the seventeen-nineties, and it was also in this decade that Mrs. Radcliffe wrote and published her most characteristic works, A Sicilian Romance, 1790; The Romance of the Forest, 1791; The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794; and The Italian, or, The Confessional of the Black Penitents, 1797, a mournival of Gothic masterpieces.

1964 [1938], Montague Summers, “The Romantic Feeling” (chapter I), in The Gothic Quest, Russell & Russell, page 56

“[…] And there are those two girls to provide for. Isabella, Isabella—I always think of them as half a mournival of Isabellas—but what the deuce are their other names?”
“Isabella Lees and Isabella Brownwood,” said Thomas.

1958, Phyllis Bentley, “Isabella, Isabella”, in Love and Money: Seven Tales of the West Riding, New York: MacMillan Company, section 10, page 81

Four plumbers came by a little while ago, looked at the leaks, and left to go to lunch. I guess, lacking a penis, that I'm not qualified to note that, yes indeedy, there is a leak from the ceiling in the lab. Or, perhaps, they it would take a mournival of manly men to keep lil' ole' me from panicking. They milled around in the hall for a minute, told me they's be back, and left.

2005 May 27, Penelope Periwinkle, “Obsolete”, in soc.singles.moderated (Usenet)

The Emperor, flanked by his Custodes, and Horus along with his Mournival of captains teleported onto the ship, but were scattered across the vast command decks by sinister magicks.

2010, Aurelius Rex, “The History and Legacy of Dorn’s Betrayal”, in Aurelius Rex, editor, The Dornian Heresy, number 1, page 6, column 2

(by extension, archaic, rare) A set of four people or things; a quartet.


wormling

From worm + -ling. Compare Icelandic yrmlingur (“wormling”).

But I am a wormling, and not a man; the scorn of men, and derision of the people.

1797, Alexander Geddes, A New Translation of the Book of Psalms, published 1807

(by extension) Any weak, mean, or lowly creature.


non liquet

en-noun

non liquet (plural non liquets or non liquent)

non liquets (plural)
non liquent (plural)

The condition of Scribonius’ text thus raises nagging doubts about the authenticity of “o bone deus.” But even if the digression itself could be accepted as genuine, the situation does not improve, for the near uniqueness of Scribonius’ “o bone deus” makes it vulnerable to any number of possible accidents of transmission. Under these conditions it seems we are forced to set Scribonius aside as a non liquet.

1997 April, John Rauk, “The Vocative of Deus and Its Problems”, in Classical Philology, volume XCII, № 2, page 141

(by extension) Something about which no clear decision can yet be made.


wolf hook

From wolf + hook, called so because the original tool was used in the hunting of wolves.

(by extension) A kind of modern-day assault rifle handle in a similar shape.


jabroni

ECW
Hulk Hogan
Iron Sheik
Scott Hall
Steve Austin
Thomas Happer Taylor
WCW

According to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who popularized the term, he borrowed jabroni from the Iron Sheik, who used the word backstage.
Prior to jabroni being popularized by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the term had also been used by Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, and other members of WCW and Steve Austin while in ECW.
Jabroni is a specialized rendition of the wrestling term jobber (“one who loses to make other wrestlers look better”). It is perhaps a humorous pseudo-Italianized form of it (see popular Italian words in American lexicon, e.g. macaroni, pepperoni, Zamboni), but compare American slang/dialectal jaboney (“naive person, immigrant, hoodlum, fool”) (first attested in c. 1990), of unclear origin. Surmised in a 1994 Los Angeles Times article to be from Italian-American slang Italian giabone (“self-important fool”), from Piedmontese giambone, from dialectal giambon (“ham (bone)”). Ultimately from French jambon (“ham”), and first attested by Thomas Happer Taylor in his 1967 novel A-18, although claims of hearing the term date to at least c. 1953.
It may also be derived from Italian caprone (“stupid person”, literally “goat”).

der+

Howard glared at the kid walking towards him. "Now look here, jabroni. These are my trails and that's my tree house you're playing house in, and I don't remember you asking me permission to be here.[…]"

2012 July 10, James Barry, The Sasquatch Chronicles: Attack of the Animizoid

Sometimes a person is stuck as a jabroni for life. Geraldo Rivera--there's a guy who no matter how high he grows his hair, how full he grows his moustache, or how dangerous an assignment he goes on as an "investigative reporter," he'll always be a jabroni.

2013 March 27, Michael Ricci, “Semi-Charmed Kind of Word”, in Columbia Spectator

“I don’t want to be bullied again. I don’t want to feel like I have to stand in the cold again because some jabronis want to blow a three-foot cloud,” Richter says.

2014 October 8, Leah Sottile, “The Right to Vape”, in The Atlantic

(by extension) An obnoxious or contemptible person; a loser.


Gallicanism

en-noun

Gallicanism (countable and uncountable, plural Gallicanisms)

Ultramontanism (dominance by the Vatican) conflicted with Gallicanism (freedom from the Vatican) as the Church tried to come to terms with the changes of the nineteenth century.

2006, John C. Super, “Papacy”, in edited by J. Michael Francis, Iberia and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. A Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia, volume 1, page 823

Douthat himself immediately tweeted that “it’s synodality when the Germans want something, Gallicanism when the Americans want something.”

2018 November 19, Chad C. Pecknold, “Synodality Upended”, in First Things

The second large issue roiling the world Church during the papacy of Pope Francis was closely related to this theological question of the reality of revelation: the emergence of a new, twenty-first-century Gallicanism that imagined Catholicism as a federation of national Churches rather than a universal Church with distinctive local expressions.

2019, George Weigel, The Irony of Modern Catholic History […]

(by extension, often derogatory) Support for the autonomy of national churches.


sugar walls

From the suggestive 1984 song "Sugar Walls", written by Prince and performed by Sheena Easton.

In retrospect, during the '80s, when I could have been fucked by half of the gay ghetto, I took care of myself by loving a supportive, nurturing partner. He was far from perfect. He had a bad temper and knew nothing about the arts. Even more importantly, my sugar walls went unappreciated by him — and by the many Greenwich Village men I hid from and desperately wanted during hundreds of lifeless evenings spent watching television with my passive lover in Brooklyn.

1992 April 13, Christopher Street, volume 14, number 20, page 36

(slang, vulgar, by extension) The rectum, especially in relation to anal sex.


Apician

en-adj

Apician (comparative more Apician, superlative most Apician)

more Apician (comparative)
most Apician (superlative)

From Latin Apīciānus, from Apīcius + -ānus, equivalent to Apicius + -an.

December 10 1838, Henry Rogers, letter to Alfred West Esq.
Thrice happy you! who are not driven to such Apician luxuries

(by extension, of food) Choice, dainty; (of people) eating only what is choice, preferring the best or most expensive food.


farcement

en-noun

farcement (countable and uncountable, plural farcements)

In short, it was a veritable farcement of questions that each man put to him.

1883, Jacques de Mailles, History of Bayard the Good: Chevalier Sans Peur Et Sans Reproche, page 273

The process in the average public school is not education, but farcement, to borrow an old English word — a stuffing of undigested facts into unhealthy children, after the fashion of the geese of Strasburg.

1899 December, M.H. Hatfield, “Dynamics of School Puberty”, in Mind and Body, volume 6, number 70, page 222

(by extension, figurative) A mixture of various things crammed together.


greyline

(loosely) Synonym of twilight zone (“terminator”).


flashboard

There exists a trapezoidal groove in the bottom of each container and a flashboard fixed in feeding system which match the groove.

2010, Honghai Liu, Han Ding, Zhenhua Xiong, Intelligent Robotics and Applications, page 522

[…] a flashboard is installed on the outer side of the rear wall to adjust and open-close the seed discharge hole, with the flashboard fastened with a wedge.

2020, Jueming Hua, Lisheng Feng, Thirty Great Inventions of China, page 288

(by extension) A board that controls the flow of any material.


goosish

en-adj

goosish (comparative more goosish, superlative most goosish)

more goosish (comparative)
most goosish (superlative)

From Middle English goosish; equivalent to goose + -ish.

Don't do anything gooseish, will you?' 'No, and don't you do anything gooseish either!' she retorted.

2008, Georgette Heyer, Charity Girl - Page 23

“Don't be goosish.” Lucy was studying the room.

2011, Barbara Metzger, An Angel for the Earl

[…] She was always gooseish.” She waved her fan languidly as they made their way through the crowd until they reached the other side of the room.

2012, Candace Camp, The Wedding Challenge


hired gun

[O]ne of Gore's senior advisers, top-tier lobbyist Peter Knight, is a hired gun for pharmaceuticals giant Schering-Plough.

1999 November 22, Viveca Novak, “The Claritin Case”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) A person who is employed to advance the interests of their employer, especially in a vigorous manner using such methods as political lobbying, legal advocacy, or persuasion.


lap dog

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who vacations in Cape Cod, has nevertheless been […] determined to shed the image of his predecessor, Tony Blair, as America’s lap dog.

2007 October 28, Dan Bilefsky, “The Special Relationship Tries to Swim the Channel”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-12-05

This process, known as “regulatory capture,” turns regulators from watchdogs into lapdogs.

2014, Charles Seife, “Capture”, in John Brockman, editor, What Should We Be Worried About?, Harper Collins, page 36

(idiomatic, by extension) A person who behaves in a servile manner, such as a sycophantic employee or a fawning lover.


more Catholic than the Pope

more Catholic than the Pope (comparative form only)

The recently liberated European states east of the Oder-Neisse line, seeking not only entry into NATO but membership in the Union club as well, had to be more circumspect, more “European” so to speak, more Catholic than the pope

2005, Jan S. Prybyla, The American Way of Peace: An Interpretation

It has been asserted that Blair, far from seeking to slow Bush's rush to war, urged him to be tough, in an attempt to be 'more Catholic than the Pope'.

2008, Robert Harvey, The World Crisis: The Way Forward After Iraq, page 23

Strict disciples of history as a science may scorn the intuitive process, but that attitude comes from being more Catholic than the Pope.

2011, Barbara W. Tuchman, Practicing History: Selected Essays, page 59

(by extension) Adhering more stringently to any norm more strictly than is required by the arbiters of the norm.


drayage

en-noun

drayage (countable and uncountable, plural drayages)

From dray (“a low horse-drawn cart”) + -age.

(by extension) The transport of goods over a short distance, particularly from a terminal such as an ocean port to another destination, usually as part of a longer transportation of the goods.


rareripe

He is quite smart enough. I sometimes fear that he is one of the little rare-ripe sort that are smarter at about five than ever after.

1846 October 2, Abraham Lincoln, letter to Joshua F. Speed

(by extension, of a person, uncommon) maturing too quickly; taking on the trappings of maturity before one is emotionally developed


straight as an arrow

(simile, by extension) Having no homosexual desires or thoughts; completely heterosexual.


elder statesman

elder statesman (plural elder statesmen)

→ German: Elder Statesman

I would classify him in this field as an elder statesman and a very knowledgeable and brilliant scientist, and useful for consulting purposes, but he is not directly working on Project Vela.

1962, United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Developments in the Field of Detection and Identification of Nuclear Explosions (Project Vela) and Relationship to Test Ban Negotiations, page 9

With the average age of the new production team under thirty, he found himself in the unenviable position of BBC Current Affairs elder statesman.

2004, Mark Andresen, Field of Vision: The Broadcast Life of Kenneth Allsop, page 458

The 'loss of a sense of self-identity, delusions of self-identity and experiences of "alien control"', observed an elder statesman in the field of microbiome research, are all potential symptoms of mental illness.

2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 19

(by extension) A prominent and respected person in a specified field who is elderly or who has been in the field for a long time.


with one voice

The nobles around Prince John implored him with one voice to throw down his warder, and to save so brave a knight from the disgrace of being overcome by odds.

1819, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 12, in Ivanhoe

Well—Jean went down and asked his father and his mother and his old grandmother if they would permit him to marry Mlle. Malo; and they all with one voice said they wouldn't.

1916, Edith Wharton, Coming Home, section 3

Unfortunately, the global political community is a long way from speaking with one voice on anything, and climate change is no exception.

2007 December 1, Bryan Walsh, “Can We Save the World by 2015?”, in TIme

(idiomatic, by extension, of expressing opinions by members of a group) In a mutually agreeing or like-minded manner; concordantly, unanimously.


ketoacidemia

From ketoacid + -emia or keto- + acid + -emia.

(biology, medicine) The presence of ketoacids in the blood, as:

(loosely) A hereditary disease that is due to deficiency of an enzyme involved in amino acid metabolism.


bottleholder

From bottle + holder, from the bottle of water they provided to the fighter.

he has called me the bottle-holder of my right honourable friend

October 17, 1796, John Philpot Curran, speech on Catholic Emancipation

(colloquial, by extension) One who assists or supports another in a contest; a backer.


dollar day

Every day is a holiday / Another motherfuckin' dollar day

1998, Witchdoctor, “Holiday/12 Scanner”, in A.S.W.A.T Healin' Ritual

(slang, by extension) An occasion considered special or worth enjoying.


high and tight

Comparing the terms high and tight for the longer hair on the high part of the scalp and the shortest or tight-to-the-scalp hair on the sides.

(figuratively, by extension) Orderly, militaresque.


meet cute

Claudette Colbert
Ernst Lubitsch
Gary Cooper

Accidentally coined by German-American film director Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947), who had difficulty speaking English, to describe the encounter between the characters played by Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper in the 1938 film Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife.

A short meet-cute dialogue ensues, detailing exactly how many hours of interviews [Steven] Levitt had agreed to (two), and exactly how much of his time [Stephen] Dubner actually ended up taking (three days).

2015 May 15, Steven D[avid] Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, “Freakonomics 10 years on: Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt on what they got right and wrong”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2017-10-26

(by extension, informal) Any such situation occurring in real life between a pair of people who are not yet acquainted, romantically or otherwise.


methol

(organic chemistry, by extension) Any of the series of alcohols of the methane series of which methol proper is the type.


special delivery

special delivery (countable and uncountable, plural special deliveries)

“Special delivery for Mr. Graham,” said the uniformed sheriff. He grinned as he stepped aside. “Hi, honey,” said the woman standing there.

1998, Lisa Scottoline, Rough Justice, page 181

“He might be God's special delivery for us. The reward we've been waiting for.”

2008, Jerry B. Jenkins, John Perrodin, Seclusion Point, page 83

“I have a special delivery for you from the president,” Harvath continued. He lowered his weapon, took aim, and shot the finger of Fawcett's right hand.

2011, Brad Thor, Brad Thor Collectors' Edition #1

(countable and uncountable, idiomatic, by extension, sometimes humorous) Something—whether desirable or undesirable—which is intentionally given to a specific individual or which an individual receives rapidly and unexpectedly; the personalized, direct quality of the transmission of such an item.


coenobium

coenobium (plural coenobiums or coenobia)

Learned borrowing from Late Latin coenobium (“cloister, convent; monastery”), from Koine Greek κοινόβιον (koinóbion, “life in community; monastery”), the neuter form of κοινόβιος (koinóbios, “communal living”), from Ancient Greek κοινός (koinós, “common, shared”) + βίος (bíos, “life”). Doublet of coenoby.
The plural form coenobia is borrowed from Late Latin coenobia.

der

Comfrey fruit is a coenobium consisting not of two (in carpel number) but four monospermous eremes. Eremes are not opened and seed not released from pericarp falls from the plant.

2009, N. M. Nayda, “Seed Productivity in Symphytum L. (Boraginaceae)”, in T. B. Batygina, editor, Embryology of Flowering Plants: Terminology and Concepts, volume 3 (Reproductive Systems), Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, part 3 (Seed Propagation), page 195

(botany) A fruit of a plant from either of the families Boraginaceae (the borages) or Lamiaceae which has small loculi or compartments, reminiscent of the cells in a convent or monastery.

lohkohedelmä

fruit of a plant from either of the families Boraginaceae or Lamiaceae which has many small loculi or compartments

[…] M. [Louis-Félix] Henneguy finds four kinds of these colonies, which he calls cœnobiums: […] At the moment of fecundation the bundles of antherozoids are set at liberty by the dissolution of the antheridia wall; they move quickly through the water, and fix themselves on the female cœnobiums, and then separate to fecundate the oospheres, but the author was not able to observe the exact moment of their penetration.

1877 January 1, “New Books, with Short Notices. [The Different Sexuality of Volvox globator and V. minor.]”, in Henry Lawson, editor, The Monthly Microscopical Journal: Transactions of the Royal Microscopical Society, and Record of Histological Research at Home and Abroad, volume XVII, London: Hardwicke and Bogue, […], →OCLC, page 35

This group includes two genera, Volvox and Eudorina, which resemble Pandorina in many respects, and were formerly included with it in one group. Like Pandorina, these plants are motile, and consist of a number of ciliated cells aggregated into a cœnobium. […] The distinction between these plants and Pandorina is that in them certain cells of the cœnobium develops into antheridia and oogonia.

1882, Julius Sachs, “Group I. Thallophytes.”, in Sydney H[oward] Vines, editor, Text-book of Botany: Morphological and Physiological, 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, class III (Oosporeæ), page 278

Genus, PEDIASTRUM, Meyen. Cells united into definite families, known as coenobiums; they are plane, discoid or stellate, swimming free. A coenobium is formed of cells in a single or rarely, in part, double stratum, which is continuous or perforated.

1892, Francis Wolle, “Family, PROTOCOCCACEÆ”, in Desmids of the United States and List of American Pediastrums […], new edition, Bethlehem, Pa.: Moravian Publication Office, →OCLC, page 168

The study of ecological conditions under which the seasonal dynamics of meadow vegetation develops is one of [the] main parameters in exact studies of phytocenotic structure and the ecology of basic coenobiums.

1971, J. Danon, S. Stojanović, Ž. Blaženčić, “Comparative Studies of the Effect of Ecological Conditions of Microhabitat on the Structure of the Phytocenosis: Trifolieto-Alopecuretum pratensis”, in Vojislav Pavasović, transl., edited by Siniša Stanković and Paul Pignon, Archiv Bioloških Nauka [Archives of Biological Sciences], volume 23, numbers 3–4, Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Srpsko Biološko Društvo, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 52

(botany) A colony of algae which acts as a single organism; a coenobe.

kenobio

The Radiolaria are marine rhizopods, whose unicellular body always consists of two parts,— […] The individuals are usually single: in only a small minority are the unicellular organisms united in colonies or caenobia.

1887 June 17, “Challenger Report”, in Science.—Supplement, volume IX, number 228, New York, N.Y.: The Science Company, →OCLC, page 596, column 2

eutely Phenomenon exhibited by a few phyla, notably nematodes, where all individuals have the same number of cells (or nuclei in a coenobium).

2007, “eutely”, in J. M. Lackie, editor, The Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology, 4th edition, Burlington, Mass.: Academic Press, Elsevier, page 151, column 1

(zoology) A colony of unicellular organisms (such as protozoa) which acts as a single organism.

kenobio

colony of unicellular organisms which acts as a single organism


broadbrim

(humorous, archaic, by extension) A quiet, sedate, respectable old man.


squirmage

Pants down gags are as loud and lively as fart jokes, but willy waving in a restaurant kitchen is a whole new area of squirmage, hitherto unexplored.

c. 2005, Angus Wolfe Murray, Waiting… review, Eye for Film

(slang, by extension) The condition or quality of causing a state of discomfort, particularly disgust, fear, or embarrassment.


pinax

From Latin pinax, from Ancient Greek πίναξ (pínax, “tablet”).

Many of the lupus piscis I have seen, and have bin informed by the king's fishmonger they are taken on our coast, but was not satisfied for some reasons of his relation soe as to enter it into my Pinax […]

1669, Christopher Merrett, letter to Thomas Browne

(by extension) A list or scheme inscribed on a tablet.


light-o'-love

That is why a priest's light-o'-love is always some honest man's wife.

1866, Various, The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 103, May, 1866, page 618

(by extension) A flirtatious or wanton woman.


rubadub

en-noun

rubadub (countable and uncountable, plural rubadubs)

July 17 1850, Daniel Webster, "a speech", documented in Notes and Queries
the rubadub of the abolition presses

(by extension) A clamorous, repeated sound; a clatter.


pink slime

Apparently first applied to food in 2002 by Food Safety and Inspection Service microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein.

I paid a website developer to create a fully automated, AI-generated ‘pink-slime’ news site, programmed to create false political stories.

2024 April 12, Jack Brewster, “How I Built an AI-Powered, Self-Running Propaganda Machine for $105”, in Wall Street Journal

(by extension) Low-quality, mass-produced internet content, especially AI-generated.


break cover

en-verb

break cover (third-person singular simple present breaks cover, present participle breaking cover, simple past broke cover, past participle broken cover)

breaks cover (present singular third-person)
breaking cover (participle present)
broke cover (past)
broken cover (participle past)

Government MPs sympathetic to the opposition's arguments are starting to break cover.

(idiomatic, by extension) To disclose one's real thoughts and intentions.


lionism

From lion (“big cat (Panthera leo); (figurative) famous person regarded with interest and curiosity; person who shows attributes associated with the lion such as courage, ferocity, or strength”) + -ism (suffix forming names of schools of thought, systems, or theories, or of tendencies of action, behaviour, condition, state, condition, or opinion belonging to a class or group of persons).
Sense 1 (“19th-century practice of bringing an interesting person or object into one’s home as entertainment for visitors; state of being such a person or object”) refers to the lions previously on display at a menagerie in the Tower of London, which existed till the 19th century. Sense 4 refers to the Lion of Judah, a hereditary title of Haile Selassie I (1892–1975), the Emperor of Ethiopia, who is revered by some members of the Rastafari movement as the messiah; the lion is thus a symbol of Rastafarianism.

affix

(by extension) The practice of lionizing (“treating a person as a celebrity or someone important”); also, the state of being lionized.

kohteleminen tärkeänä henkilönä

practice of treating a person as a celebrity or someone important; state of being so treated


bethatch

en-verb

bethatch (third-person singular simple present bethatches, present participle bethatching, simple past and past participle bethatched)

bethatches (present singular third-person)
bethatching (participle present)
bethatched (participle past)
bethatched (past)

From Middle English bithecchen, from Old English beþeċċan (“to cover; protect; cover over; conceal”), from Proto-West Germanic *biþakkjan, equivalent to be- + thatch. Cognate with Dutch bedekken (“to cover”), German bedecken (“to cover”). More at its doublet bedeck. Alteration in vowel after Middle English perhaps due to thatch.

inh

Both are coolly intense, well bethatched, bell-bottomed and bespectacled.

1969, Henry Robinson Luce, Gordon Parks, Life

Baldies did not like their condition: "Witness their frantic efforts to keep among the ranks of the bethatched. […]"

1996, Kerry Segrave, Baldness: a social history

(transitive, by extension, humorous, nonce word) To cover with hair.


Mazdean

en-adj

Mazdean (comparative more Mazdean, superlative most Mazdean)

more Mazdean (comparative)
most Mazdean (superlative)


intermine

en-verb

intermine (third-person singular simple present intermines, present participle intermining, simple past and past participle intermined)

intermines (present singular third-person)
intermining (participle present)
intermined (participle past)
intermined (past)

After supper were brought in upon the place the fair wooden gospels—that is to say, many pairs of tables and cards—with little small banquets, intermined with collations and reer-suppers.

Open violence produced little effect on so patient a people, and although the Mahomedans subsequently lived for centuries, intermined with the Hindus, no radical change was produced in the manners or tenets of the latter; on the contrary, for almost a century past, the Mahomedans have evinced much deference to the prejudices of their Hindu neighbours, and a strong predelection towards many of their ceremonies.

1908 June, “Swadeshi Notes: Social”, in The Dawn and Dawn Society's Magazine, volume 11, number 8, page 127

Typical field exercises will involve leap-frogging and short runs of high speed and agility intermined with periods of slower movement or stopping.

1982, Hearings On Military Posture And H.R. 5968, page 690


unseel

unseel (third-person singular simple present unseels, present participle unseeling, simple past and past participle unseeled)

unseels (present singular third-person)
unseeling (participle present)
unseeled (participle past)
unseeled (past)

From Middle English unsele, from Old English unsǣle, from Proto-Germanic *unsēliz, from *un- + *sēliz, equivalent to un- + seel.

(obsolete, by extension) To give light to; to enlighten.


Atticism

en-noun

Atticism (countable and uncountable, plural Atticisms)

From Ancient Greek Ἀττῐκῐσμός (Attikismós). By surface analysis, Attic + -ism.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus
w:Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Loeb Classical Library
w:Loeb Classical Library

Harvard University Press
w:Harvard University Press

(singular only) The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.

(history, singular only) The enduring rhetorical movement, begun in the 1st century B.C.E., whose members strove to emulate the style of the best Attic orators of that Classical period; especially in contrast with Asianism or Hellenism. (Its leading early proponent, Dionysius of Halicarnassus [c. 60–p. 7 B.C.E.], identified Lysias [c. 445–380 B.C.E.] as “the perfect model of the Attic dialect”, whose virtues he enumerates to be “purity of language, correct dialect, the presentation of ideas by means of standard, not figurative expressions; clarity, brevity, concision, terseness, vivid representation…, the pleasing arrangement of words after the manner of ordinary speech…, charm and a sense of timing which regulates everything else”.)

(chiefly historical or dated, singular only, by extension) The stylistic principles of Greek Atticism in application to other languages, especially to Latin.

There while they acted, and overacted, among other young ſcholars, I was a ſpectator; they thought themſelves gallant men, and I thought them fools, they made ſport, and I laught, they miſpronounc’t and I miſlik’t, and to make up the atticiſme, they were out, and I hiſt.

1642 April, John Milton, An Apology Againſt a Pamphlet Call’d A Modeſt Confutation of the Animadverſions upon the Remonſtrant againſt Smectymnuus., page 14

There is an elegant Atticiſm which occurs Luke xiii. 9. “If it bear fruit, well.” We find this figure of ſpeech in the Chaldee, Dan. iii. 15; and, I think, in the Hebrew, Exod. xxxii. 32: “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their ſin, well.”

1792, William Newcome, An Hiſtorical View of the Engliſh Biblical Tranſlations, chapter V, Rule II., page 279

As for Ephraim, their glory ſhall flee away as a bird: which…form reſembles Salluſt’s plebs urbana ea vero præceps ierat [Bellum Catilinae 37.4]; and that common Atticiſm, urbem quam ſtatuo, veſtra eſt [Virgil, Aeneid 1.573].

inverse attraction
inverse attraction#English

(countable, by extension) A refined felicity or well-turned phrase, especially one deemed ungrammatical. (In Newcome, aposiopesis, dislocation, and inverse attraction, respectively.)

attycyzm

refined felicity or well-turned phrase, esp. ungrammatical


E-la

(obsolete, by extension) Any extravagant saying.


winesop

From Middle English wyne soppe, wynesoppe; equivalent to wine + sop.

"I'm going to give you Mr. Whish — or the winesop that remains of him," continued Attwater.

1913, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, The ebb-tide: A trio and a quartette, page 214

[…] "we're being maneuvered into providing a gala State funeral for that reprobate winesop."

2000, Stephen Lawhead, Avalon: The Return of King Arthur, page 61

Aye, he was good at skulking around and acting like a winesop or an idiot.

(figuratively, by extension, derogatory) A drunkard, a wino.


souterly

en-adj

souterly (comparative more souterly, superlative most souterly)

more souterly (comparative)
most souterly (superlative)

And as too the special bassawes of that proude souterly Sowdan.

You souterly knaves, show you all your manners at once.

1568, Ulpian Fullwell, Like will to Like

And the burden-bearing porter, souterly cobbler, and toilefull labourer.


throw-off

Then there is, I think, $25,000 extra allowed in the appropriation to pay for extra service at the rate of 4 cents per mile, where the amount of service is very great and the number of throw-offs very great.

1913, United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Postage on Second-Class Mail Matter and Compensation for Transportation of Mail, Railway Mail Pay

I was a little impressed with the categorical list of throw-offs that you wanted taken out of this bill.

1950, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Banking and Currency, Bank Holding Bill, page 267

Can't last another month without a throw-off deal from pig 'cause Wengel 'buses the blind.

1952, George Mandel, Flee the Angry Strangers, page 331

(by extension) A discount on a debt or invoice due to a problem with the asset being paid for.


R-rated

From R + rated. The R-rating (short for restricted) is part of the rating scale used by the U.S. film rating authority Motion Picture Association (MPA) or similar rating scales used by authorities in some other countries.

A day’s notes are routinely R-rated. “Usually tense relationships are moderated by ritualized greetings and a genital grab,” she said.

2017 March, Jennifer S. Holland, “For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival”, in National Geographic

(by extension) Not suitable for children, especially due to involving excessive sexual, violent, or rude content


moniment

From Latin monimentum, monumentum. See monument.

(obsolete, by extension) A mark, image, or superscription; a record.


Edenization

They wanted the end of oppression, the end of tyranny, the end of the sword, work for the man, instruction for the child, social gentleness for the woman, liberty, equality, fraternity, bread for all, the idea for all, the Edenization of the world, and progress; and this holy, good, and sweet thing called progress, they, driven to exasperation, claimed terribly with upraised weapons and curses.

1887, Victor Hugo, translated by Joseph L. Blamire, Les Misérables, volume 4, London, New York: George Routledge and Sons, translation of original in French, page 32

We must hope that the twentieth century will see the same thing done for the social and psychic sciences. Until this is done we need not look for the “Edenization of the world.”

1916, The Biblical World, volume 48, page 340

(more generally) The conversion of anything into an Eden or paradise.


corypheus

en-noun

corypheus (plural corypheuses or coryphei)

From Latin coryphaeus, from Ancient Greek κορυφαῖος (koruphaîos, “leader”), from κορυφή (koruphḗ, “head”).

uder

That noted corypheus of the Independent faction.

Let us blithely hail, throughout the whole universe, these disciples of Christ, these two Coryphei, Peter and Paul : O Peter, the Foundation-stone and Rock ; and thou also, O Paul, Vessel of Election.

1800, Prosper Guéranger, translated by Laurence Shepherd, The Liturgical Year: The Time after Pentecost, volume 3, page 443

Then Corypheus Marat, author of the Friend of the People, constantly denounced him as the traitor Lafayette.

1824, John Foster, A Sketch of the Tour of General Lafayette, on His Late Visit to the United States, 1824, page 27

Chauncey Wright, something of a philosophical celebrity in those days, was never absent from our meetings. I was about to call him our corypheus; but he will better be described as our boxing-master whom we—I particularly—used to face to be severely pummelled.

1940, Charles Sanders Peirce, Philosophical Writings of Peirce, page 270

The Gnostic depreciation of the cosmos and its creator aroused the ire of the founder and corypheus of the Neoplatonic School, Plotinus (205-70), who presided over an academia in Rome and possibly had a private mystical practice.

1992, Demetres P. Tryphonopoulos, The Celestial Tradition: A Study of Ezra Pound's The Cantos, page 36

(by extension) The chief or leader of a party or interest.


two-tongued

From Middle English two-tounged, two tungyd, equivalent to two + tongued. Compare twi-tongued.

(by extension) Deceitful; lying; two-faced.


pinacolin

From pinacone + Latin oleum (“oil”) + -in.

(chemistry, by extension) Any of the series of which pinacolin proper is the type.


exinanition

/ˌɛɡzɪnəˈnɪʃən/

From Latin exinānitiō, from exināniō, from ex- (“out”) and ināniō (“I empty”).

(obsolete, rare, by extension) privation; loss; destitution


chopping block

Jim really put his head on the chopping block when he started flirting with the boss's daughter.

(by extension) A dangerous or precarious situation.


OK Corral

(by extension) Any place where a major confrontation, particularly involving guns, takes place. Often used in conjunction with the words showdown or shootout.


koha

en-noun

koha (countable and uncountable, plural kohas or koha)

Borrowed from Maori koha (“regard, respect; gift, present”).

nb...

14, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London; and 20, South Frederick Street, Edinburgh.

There was considerable opposition to any advance for this mill being charged as against "Koha." […] In respect to the Turakirae Block, Manihera and Wi Kingi claimed "Koha" for Taita, Mangaroa, and Pakuratahi, stating that the purchase extended over those lands, and even to the source of a stream falling to the West Coast.]

[1873 December 31, “Wairarapa Five Per Cents., (Report on the Payment of Balances on the). Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency. [No. 1. Major Heaphy to the Hon. the Native Minister.]”, in Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. […], volume II, Wellington: Government Printer, published 1874, →OCLC, page 2

Unfortunately, some of our young people have come to the conclusion that koha as a system is out of date. Several times I have heard it said by young people that they are going to a hui but, not to worry, the Government will fund it. […] I believe that we ought to be attending hui, and ought to make contributions by way of koha.

1986 April 29, Peter Tapsell, “Te Pire Mo Te Reo Maori—Maori Language Bill”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Second Session, Forty-first Parliament, 1986: House of Representatives, volume 470, Wellington: V. R. Ward, government printer, →OCLC, page 1460

In and Out of Context is a free/koha event and for everyone! Bring the whole family, bring someone you’re keen to impress, if they’re impressed make a donation!

2012 December, “In and Out of Context: A Street Light Circus”, in Scoop: Independent News

The event is free but organisers say a koha would help with resettlement.

2016 January 8, Matthew Theunissen, “Concert to greet Syrian refugees”, in The New Zealand Herald

The Fair is a registered charity that donates funds raised by koha, raffle or bake sales to charities in the community.

2016 January 11, “Gisborne goes arty at the Arts and Craft Fair: Crowds flock in to support local artists”, in Gisborne Herald

(New Zealand, by extension) A voluntary donation given for a service that has been provided.


bestream

en-verb

bestream (third-person singular simple present bestreams, present participle bestreaming, simple past and past participle bestreamed)

bestreams (present singular third-person)
bestreaming (participle present)
bestreamed (participle past)
bestreamed (past)

From be- + stream. Cognate with German beströmen (“to pervade”).

Gear, such as Orchomenus bestreams or Thebae of Egypt, Where lies in palace-hall most wealth, whose gates are an hundred, And steeds, and chariots, and fivescore troops are in each one [...]

1899, Homer, Alexander Pope, Philip Gentner, The Iliad of Homer

They were about the business of repair so that in a way fire did remain an enemy of water, as they caulked the longboat and disappeared below deck, carrying leather-bestreamed poles of steaming pitch.

(transitive, by extension) To cover or be covered in; adorn; wear.


overlash

overlash (third-person singular simple present overlashes, present participle overlashing, simple past and past participle overlashed)

overlashes (present singular third-person)
overlashing (participle present)
overlashed (participle past)
overlashed (past)

/əʊvə(ɹ)ˈlæʃ/

From over- + lash. Compare dialectal English lash (“extravagant”), lashing (“lavish”).

(obsolete, by extension) To exaggerate; to boast.


puer aeternus

From Latin puer aeternus (“eternal boy”) (in Ovid, Metamorphoses), after use in German by Carl Jung.

Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed King of Pop, eccentric puer aeternus, and singer-songwriter-dancer-entrepreneur, agrees to an out-of-court settlement in a child-molestation suit, reportedly paying out $20 million to settle one of a series of sex-abuse charges brought against him.

2017, David Friend, The Naughty Nineties

(loosely) A man who remains emotionally childlike.


cheeser

From Middle English cheser; equivalent to cheese + -er. The smile is said to resemble the uniform white coloration of cheese, or possibly related to the phrase say cheese.

It's 'cause some cheeser had to throw paper.

1993, Eugene Robert Shaw, Inside the Bargain, page 124

Oh, Brian, you are such a cheeser!

1994, Stephen King, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, page 506

Any cheesers that get near this will skulk away in shame once they realize we don't tolerate cheesers.

2011, Doug Depew, SAT & BAF!: Memories of a Tower Rat, page 96

In our measly little clique, we had one cheeser, who ended up following me all the way to Plantation Grove College.

2012, Sheila L. Ramsey, Quest for a Gentleman: Sins of the First Freedom, page 8

(by extension, derogatory) Someone who is immature.


elixate

elixate (third-person singular simple present elixates, present participle elixating, simple past and past participle elixated)

elixates (present singular third-person)
elixating (participle present)
elixated (participle past)
elixated (past)

From Latin ēlixātus, past participle of ēlixāre (“to seethe”), from ēlixus (“thoroughly boiled”), from ex + *lixus (“fluid, flowing”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- (“moist, to wet”) and thus cognate with Latin lixa (“water; lye”) and liqueō (“to be liquid, fluid”).

der

Polypody must be contunded and elixated; whereunto , when moderately cocted , Prunes , Raisins , Wormwood , Epithymum , Binde - weed , Roses , and Liquorice must be added

1657, Jean de Renou, A Medicinal Dispensatory

(obsolete, by extension) To extract by boiling or seething.


fulham

So called because loaded dice were supposed to have been chiefly made at Fulham, originally in Middlesex, England.

As one cut out to pass your tricks on, / With fulhams of poetic fiction

c. 1660–1680, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part II, canto 1

(archaic, UK, colloquial, by extension) Alternative form of fullam (“sham”)


recoct

en-verb

recoct (third-person singular simple present recocts, present participle recocting, simple past and past participle recocted)

recocts (present singular third-person)
recocting (participle present)
recocted (participle past)
recocted (past)

From Latin recoctus, past participle of recoquere (“to cook or boil over again”). See re- and cook.

Your olde Crambe of Religionis ergo, so often recocted.

(obsolete, transitive, by extension) To make over; to revamp or reconstruct.


synastry

en-noun

synastry (usually uncountable, plural synastries)

From Ancient Greek συναστρία (sunastría, “conjunction of the stars”).

der

1860-1867, John Lothrop Motley, History of the United Netherlands
Born in the same day of the month and hour of the day with the Queen, but two years before her birth, the supposed synastry of their destinies might partly account, in that age of astrological superstition, for the influence which he perpetually exerted.

(by extension) similarity of condition, fortune, etc., as prefigured by astrological calculation


tab stop

(computing, by extension) A horizontal column in a text document where the cursor stops when the Tab key is pressed. It is used for alignment.


sigillaria

(by extension) The last two days (i.e. the sixth and seventh) of the saturnalia.


enodation

From Latin enodatio (“explanation”), from enodare (“to free from knots”). See enode.

There is one thing then I apprehend will serve much for the enodation of many difficulties

(by extension) The solution of a difficulty.


decoy-duck

(by extension, figurative) One employed to lure others into danger.


Wunderkammer

en-noun

Wunderkammer (plural Wunderkammers or Wunderkammern)

Wunderkammers (plural)
Wunderkammern (plural)

From German Wunderkammer (literally “room of wonders”).

bor

(by extension) A place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited.


muscoid

(loosely) Any fly in the section Schizophora.


Sorrento work

(by extension) Jigsaw work etc. done anywhere.


exact science

精密科學

field of science capable of quantitative expression

(sciences, broadly) A field of science such as physics or chemistry that is not perfectly exact, but still capable of highly quantitative results based on methods that are are not strictly rigorous, but still systematic and scrupulous.


glycerophosphoglycerol

(by extension) Its fatty acid derivatives - the phosphatidylglycerols


glycerophosphoglucose

(by extension) Its fatty acid derivatives - the phosphatidylglucoses


glycerophosphoinositol

(by extension) Any of its fatty acid derivatives - the phosphatidylinositols.


accent mark

Student: Why does the word Čech have an accent mark on it?
Teacher: That mark is called a háček or caron. It tells the reader that the letter sounds like [ch] as in "church", not like [k] as in "carrot" or [s] as in "celery".

(linguistics, loosely) Any diacritical mark.


guttery

en-adj

guttery (comparative more guttery, superlative most guttery)

more guttery (comparative)
most guttery (superlative)

On the Warlocks' early records, for all that the music was grim and dark and guttery, there was a lightness and a sense of fun in the totally over-the-top playing, each repetitive, maddening, Chinese-water-torture ching-ching-ching drawn out so far past the point of absurdity you could imagine strobe lights flashing off the band's shit-eating grins.

2005 October 21, Monica Kendrick, “Wait for It”, in Chicago Reader


noises off

The political situation after the Year V elections developed into a war of position between rival factions, with muffled insurrectionary noises off supplied by bellicose neo-Jacobins and sabre-rattling royalists.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 515

Amazing, given the gravity of those, that noises-off to the main event continue to be bleatings by the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries […] who have now put five times more effort into greasing up to Boris Johnson than they ever did into public service.

2023 June 30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian

(by extension) Something occurring on the margins or periphery of a given event, situation etc.


pretorium

(by extension, dated) A splendid country seat.


sawdust trail

Probably an allusion to the sawdust which covered the floors of the tents in which religious revival meetings were often held.

Mr. Bernstein explained that this was not obligatory. All he meant was that the suit was good enough to be married in, or for that matter to be buried in.
"Or to be born anew in when Billy Sunday comes to town and I hit the sawdust trail," suggested the purchaser.

1920, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 3, in The Big-Town Round-Up

(idiomatic, by extension, dated) The path to spiritual redemption or salvation, especially as involving attendance at Christian revival meetings presided over by itinerant preachers in the United States.


carriage trade

(idiomatic, by extension) Wealthy or upper-class people in general.


hall pass

The story kicks in when a relationship guru (Joy Behar) suggests that the wives give their husbands a week off from marriage — a hall pass — which, after not much anguish, they do.

2011 February 24, Manohla Dargis, “Man-Child in the Promised Land, for a Whole (Pant! Pant!) Week”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

So these wives give them a "hall pass": for one week only, they get a bachelor holiday from married life, no questions asked.

2011 March 10, Peter Bradshaw, “Hall Pass – review”, in The Guardian

Shane explains: “I’ve got a hall pass to sleep with other women but that wasn’t the original intention.

2018 June 1, Holly O'Mahony, “‘Stag’ men love watching other guys have sex with their wives… but it’s not cuckolding”, in The Sun

(by extension, informal) An agreement to temporarily or conditionally relax monogamy in a relationship.


three-ring circus

en-noun

three-ring circus (plural three-ring circuses)

Indoor track can be a three-ring circus, with so much going on in the space of a few evening hours that the fans hardly know where to look first.

1963 February 22, “Sport: Look! Another Record”, in Time

British television viewers had seen how proceedings in US courtrooms can almost turn into a three-ring circus during the OJ Simpson trial.

1997 November 1, Kim Sengupta, “Nanny Trial: Sharp contrast in US justice style”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2012-06-28

The Italian Parliament has long been a three-ring circus.

2011 April 1, Rachel Donadio, “Rude and Crude Behavior Stains Italian Parliament”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-06-28

(idiomatic, by extension) A disorderly, complicated, rapidly changing situation or set of events, which is a source of bewilderment, amazement, or amusement.

commotion

idiomatic: disorderly, complicated, rapidly changing situation


stoater

Towards the end perhaps there were slight signs of tiring fingers but there is no doubt that, in the words of the cognoscenti, this was a stoater of a performance.

1984, Glasgow (Scotland). College of Piping, Piping Times - Volume 37, Issues 5-7, page 38

There'll be other Christmases. But let's just promise future presents to each other'll be stoaters.

1992, Plays International - Volume 8, page 44

Then Eric made a sudden quantum leap and realized that they absolutely must must MUST do a science-fiction version of Noel Coward's enduring and much-loved old stoater, Private Lives.

1993, Robert Farrar, State of Independence, page 89

'That's a great dog you've got there,' he said. 'That's a real stoater.

1997, Flamingo Book of New Scottish Writing, page 5

(Scotland, Ireland, more generally) Anything especially nice.


trial by fire

But take it all in all, the overland trail was a trial by fire. One gets a notion of its deadliness from the fact that over five thousand people died of cholera alone.

1918, Stewart Edward White, chapter 5, in The Forty-Niners

Now, residents' legendary 100+-hour workweek may be on its way out. . . . Some doctors insist the long hours are a necessary trial by fire that produces highly skilled, virtually unflappable physicians.

2001 June 18, Jessica Reaves, “Will Your Doctor Get More Reasonable Hours?”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) Any ordeal which tests one's strength, endurance or resolve.

অগ্নিপরীক্ষা

idiomatic: any ordeal which tests one's strength, endurance, or resolve


turkey shoot

In the Battle of the Marianas, which pilots called "the turkey shoot," they downed 360 Japanese planes in a single day, the record bag of the war.

1960 July 11, “Aviation: The Embattled Farmer”, in Time

Almost everyone argued that it would be inhumane for Americans to engage in a turkey shoot against fleeing Iraqi soldiers.

1991 April 14, Leslie H. Gelb, “Foreign Affairs: White House Guilt?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-07-16

The U-boats, for instance, had a stranglehold on the merchant shipping supplying Britain, and it was thought that a convoy system would turn into a turkey shoot.

2009 Nov. 15, Mike Higgins, "Andrew Marr: The Making of Modern Britain, BBC2 (TV review)," The Independent (UK) (retrieved 16 July 2012)

(idiomatic, by extension) A situation in which numerous weapons are discharged against prey, opponents, or victims who have little ability to protect or defend themselves.

The University of Delaware Blue Hens had themselves a turkey shoot here Saturday at Delaware Stadium as they humbled Boston University, 41-13, before 10,350.

1968 November 17, Bob Monahan, “Delaware Thrashes B.U. 41-13”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 2012-07-16, page 71

Their exit from the tournament, without a set between them yesterday, at least demonstrated that the women's game is not quite the turkey shoot it might have seemed.

2011 June 28, Chris McGrath, Tennis: ‘Devastated’ Williams sisters rue double loss," The Independent (UK) (retrieved 16 July 2012)

(idiomatic, by extension) An unequal competitive situation in which one party easily defeats the other(s).


play to win

en-verb

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

to play to win (canonical)
plays to win (present singular third-person)
playing to win (participle present)
played to win (participle past)
played to win (past)

I play to win. I am playing for human lives. This, sir, is the torture, marks of which you have seen on the prisoners; but your inexperience will not detect at a glance all the diabolical ingenuity and cruelty that lurks in this piece of linen and these straps of leather.

1856, Charles Reade, chapter 24, in It Is Never Too Late to Mend

"The difference between playing to win and playing not to lose is the difference between the successful executive and the security-hunting, mediocre man.

1988, David Mahoney (chairman, Norton Simon Inc.), quoted in The Executive's Book of Quotations (Oxford, 1994), p. 298

And Bullock could care less about the judge's threats. Like always, he was playing to win.

1997, William Bernhardt, Naked Justice, page 355

Rahm Emanuel was certainly a surprising choice for chief of staff — he's a hard-cussing, old-school-campaign knife fighter and pragmatic congressional arm twister who plays to win.

2009 December 16, “People Who Mattered: Rahm Emanuel”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) To make a special, determined effort to achieve general success or a particular goal, in life, in one's career, in negotiation, etc.


fee-faw-fum

J. H. Newman
impudent fee-faw-fums

One of the most successful fee-faw-fums worked off on the prospective patients of mine for the past twenty-five years has been: “If you go to Tilden, he will starve you to death.”

1921, J. H. Tilden, Food: Its Influence As a Factor in Disease and Health, page 153

(archaic, by extension) Any expression calculated to impose upon the timid and ignorant.


hot hand

(idiomatic, by extension) A sustained period of luck or success; a streak of good luck.


repercuss

repercuss (third-person singular simple present repercusses, present participle repercussing, simple past and past participle repercussed)

repercusses (present singular third-person)
repercussing (participle present)
repercussed (participle past)
repercussed (past)

From Latin repercusus,
 past participle of repercutere (“to drive back”), from re- (“re-”) + percutere. See percussion.

(transitive, by extension) To reflect; to reverberate.


Olympiad

Hadrian
International Mathematical Olympiad
Olympiad
Summer Olympics
Winter Olympics
inclusive counting

From the plural forms Olimpiades, Olympiades, and Olympiadiz of Middle English Olimpias and Olympias (“ancient Olympic Games, 4-year period between these games, intense battle or competition”) from Middle French Olympiade and Old French Olympiade (“ancient Olympic games, 4-year period between these games”), from Latin Olympias (“4-year period between Olympic Games”) whose genitive form was Olympiados or Olympiadis), from Ancient Greek Ὀλυμπῐᾰ́ς (Olumpiás, “ancient Olympic Games, 4-year period between these games”) whose plural form was Ὀλυμπῐᾰ́δες (Olumpiádes), from Ὀλυμπῐ́ᾱ (Olumpíā, “Olympia”), the town in ancient Greece where the games were held, + -ᾰ́ς (-ás, a suffix forming feminine adjectives or nouns), from either Ὀλῠ́μπῐος (Olúmpios, “of or related to Mount Olympus, Olympian, the Olympian Zeus”) or Ὄλῠμπος (Ólumpos, “Mount Olympus”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).
The use of olympiad for academic competitions aspiring to the level of the Olympic Games was first popularized by the International Mathematical Olympiad, a calque of its Romanian name Olimpiada Internațională de Matematică.

Olimpiade

period between celebrations of the ancient or modern Olympic Games

olympiade

celebration of the ancient or modern Olympic Games

olympiad

alternative case, typically in generic uses

the International Mathematical Olympiad... the Science Olympiad... the International Science Olympiads... the Women's Chess Olympiad...

The Junior Olympiad track and field meet was a major special event with 276 entrants.

1943 November, Margaret King, “Southwest District Association News [California]”, in Mary Wibel, editor, The Journal of Health and Physical Education, volume 14, number 9, Washington, D.C.: American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, →OCLC, page 492, column 1

Selected competitively from more than 400,000 high school students to represent the United States in the 19th International Mathematical Olympiad in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, July 5–6, an 8-man team emerged victorious over teams from 20 other nations. […] Credited with developing the International Mathematics Olympiad in 1959 is Rumania, the winner that year in competition with Bulgaria, Czechosolvakia, Poland, German Democratic Republic, and Soviet Union. […] The idea of a U.S. Mathematical Olympiad was spawned in 1971 when Prof. Nura D. Turner of SUNY (State University of New York), Albany, authored an article in the American Mathematical Monthly that led in 1972 to the USA Mathematical Olympiad.

1977 May–July, “USA Team Wins over 20 Nations”, in Clarence T. Smith, editor, Army Research and Development, volume 18, number 3, Alexandria, Va.: Development and Engineering Directorate, HQ. U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 29, column 2

[…] Kent Howerton led dominance of the initial Motorcycle Olympiad by AMA professional moto-crossers. […] The fans dug it, the bike press agreed, and the Second Annual Motorcycle Olympiad will be held September 16–17 at Saddleback Park in Orange, California. More on the Olympiad in future issues.

1978 June, “Olympiad Set for Second Go”, in Bill Amick, editor, American Motorcyclist, volume 32, number 6, Westerville, Oh.: American Motorcyclist Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 34, column 3

The Prize distribution ceremony of the First National Science Olympiad was held at National Museum Auditorium, New Delhi on October 18. […] The Second National Science Olympiad will be conducted on 28th January 2000.

1999 December, “Miscellaneous”, in Mahendra Jain, editor, Competition Science Vision, volume 2, number 22, Agra, Uttar Pradesh: Mahendra Jain for M/s Pratiyogita Darpan, →OCLC, page 1266, columns 2–3

The FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2021 will be held between August 13 to September 15, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced. Each national federation intending to take part in the Online Olympiad shall confirm its participation by July 31, it said.

2021 July 14, “Second Online Chess Olympiad from August 13, says FIDE”, in The Times of India, Mumbai, Maharashtra: The Times Group, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-08-06

(by extension, usually preceded by descriptive words) A competition aspiring to the importance of the Olympic Games or considered similar to them, especially one occurring at 4-year intervals, representing a national or international range of amateur student rather than professional adult competition, and/or requiring the highest level of ability in the field for success.

奧林匹克

high-level competitions in other fields, especially among students


sellsword

Whenever I see Alcides Escobar make another unbelievable play at shortstop, I can’t help but think we got the better of the deal in the trade for Zack Grienke. The money-hungry Grienke is now pitching for the Dodgers and admits he wanted to play for the team that paid him the most cash. A sellsword. A gunslinger for hire.

2013 April 2, Matt Stewart, “Opinion: Royals poised to make the playoffs”, in Fox 4 (Kansas City), retrieved 2014-11-24

Soccer is class warfare, a battle between the haves and the have-nots, and those with more money and resources always win. In soccer, The Empire is undefeated. And José Mourinho, the world's greatest sellsword, the man who has discovered nothing in soccer but how to win, is its face.

2014 April 28, Greg Howard, “José Mourinho Is The Antichrist: A Closet Liverpool Fan's Lament”, in Deadspin, retrieved 2014-11-24

(by extension figuratively, often derogatory) Someone who only works for money, in the manner of a mercenary.


cagmag

en-noun

cagmag (countable and uncountable, plural cagmags)

when a man pays for the price of a good wholesome dinner, and finds that all the dishes are filled with cagmag, it is no particular satisfaction to him to know that he is not forced to touch a second morsel

1837, William Rae Wilson, Notes Abroad and Rhapsodies at Home

(UK, dialect, by extension, uncountable) Coarse, bad food of any kind.


from stem to stern

[T]he horse was the vainer brute of the two; he was far worse beflounced, bebonneted, and bemantled, than any fair lady. . . . [T]his poor animal from stem to stern was swamped in finery.

1861, Charles Reade, chapter 58, in The Cloister and the Hearth

Michigan's Mackinac Island, the Lake Huron resort where automobiles are barred, was sprayed from stem to stern with DDT.

1945 August 27, “Science: War on Insects”, in Time

Weighing in at four pounds, the lobster was rubbery and tasteless from stem to stern.

2005 Oct. 12, Marian Burros, "Take My Steak. Please." (restaurant review), New York Times (retrieved 23 Aug. 2012)

(idiomatic, by extension) From front to back; from one end to the other end.


part ways

en-verb

part ways (third-person singular simple present parts ways, present participle parting ways, simple past and past participle parted ways)

parts ways (present singular third-person)
parting ways (participle present)
parted ways (participle past)
parted ways (past)

(figurative, by extension) To end a relationship; to pursue a certain choice, course of action, etc. in a way that alienates or reduces communication with a partner.


cabalize

cabalize (third-person singular simple present cabalizes, present participle cabalizing, simple past and past participle cabalized)

cabalizes (present singular third-person)
cabalizing (participle present)
cabalized (participle past)
cabalized (past)

From cabala + -ize. Compare French cabaliser.

This way of Cabalizing gave the Name to Judas Maccabaus

1693, John Edwards, A Discourse concerning the Authority, Stile and Perfection, page 51

They are not to be cabalized away by any extemporaneous ingenuity, and while they all the more imperiously demand the inauguration of new and superior influences for the formation of character, they put the subject more in the light of a duty we owe to posterity than of a present satisfaction of our own passional demands.

1852, M. Edgeworth Lazarus, Love Vs. Marriage - Volume 1, page 174

But yet if one is allowed to cabalize in this manner, I can more easily fit "Rech" (7.7) to the German word "Reich."

1971, Arlene Adrienne Miller, Jacob Boehme: from Orthodoxy to Enlightenment, page 153

(transitive, intransitive, by extension) To decode or demystify.


abandon ship

abandon ship (third-person singular simple present abandons ship, present participle abandoning ship, simple past and past participle abandoned ship)

abandons ship (present singular third-person)
abandoning ship (participle present)
abandoned ship (participle past)
abandoned ship (past)

(by extension) To leave a person or organization when things become difficult.

jättää oman onnensa nojaan

to leave a person or organization when things become difficult


breach of the peace

en-noun

breach of the peace (plural breaches of the peace)

Polly's suspicions were louder, her temper became uncertain; once or twice she forgot herself and used language calculated to cause a breach of the peace.

1898, George Gissing, chapter 20, in The Town Traveller

Then, suddenly, the singing fell upon us and broke the silence into ruins. It was in the nature of a breach of the peace.

1912, Irving Bacheller, chapter 14, in ‘Charge It’

My rural ride continues, and on a gloriously balmy day in Worth Matravers the only obvious sign of a breach of the peace is a flock of geese lolloping out of the pond, on to the lane.

2009 April 2, Jasper Gerard, “Bucolic Britain is stirring”, in The Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2012-10-06

(by extension) Any public disturbance or disorderly behavior.

破壞社會安寧

any public disturbance or disorderly behavior


slow march

[S]ome spirits, more audacious than the rest, became restive under the slow march of events.

1835, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 12, in The Monikins

[T]he venerable order, the broad slow march from precedent to precedent that has made our English people great and this sunny island free—it is all an idle tale.

1904, H. G. Wells, chapter 1, in The Food of the Gods

For three decades, John Howard has been on a slow march to end centralized wage-fixing.

2005 October 17, Tom Dusevic, “Trust Me, I'm Fair”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) A progression or unfolding of events which occurs in an unhurried, steady, deliberate manner.


curtail dog

(obsolete, by extension) A dog not fit for sporting.


cyclic poet

So called because keeping within the circle of a single subject.

(by extension) Any of a coterie of poets writing on one subject.


eigenpair

(mathematics, by extension) The mathematical pair of an eigenelement (ẕ), and its associated eigenvalue (λ). This is written as (λ,ẕ)


crop out

en-verb

crop out (third-person singular simple present crops out, present participle cropping out, simple past and past participle cropped out)

crops out (present singular third-person)
cropping out (participle present)
cropped out (participle past)
cropped out (past)

Coordinate term: crop up

The peculiarities of the author are beginning to crop out.

First there was headache, then a frequent congested condition, which she described as a "rush of blood" to her head; and, by and by, vagaries and forebodings and despondent feelings began to crop out.

1873, Edward H[ammond] Clarke, M.D., Sex in Education; or, A Fair Chance for the Girls, Boston: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, […], →OCLC, pages 86–87

(intransitive, by extension) To become noticeable or manifest; to come to light.


loadout

en-noun

loadout (countable and uncountable, plural loadouts)

I've got my custom loadout, a holographic scoped assault rifle and a stock of claymore mines to use to cover my back as I look out over the wreckage of the downed transport plane for insurgents.

2015, Alan F. Meades, Understanding Counterplay in Video Games

(by extension, video games) A set of items and abilities chosen by the player before embarking on an in-game mission.


Moneyball

After the 2003 book by business journalist Michael Lewis; from money + ball.

Campaigns are spending a lot of money, but they are not playing Moneyball.

2011 October 5, John Sides, “The Moneyball of Campaign Advertising (Part 1)”, in The New York Times

The technical savvy on display was enough to show any guest that there’s more—a lot more—to the hotel business than the front desk and housekeeping. As host Wapner said, “It’s moneyball for hotels.”

2012, Patrick Mayock, “Bill Marriott shines in primetime spotlight”, in www.hotelnewsnow.com, archived from the original on 2013-04-19

Now people everywhere can bring “Moneyball” to medicine. A few months after releasing their global numbers in The Lancet, the same scientists supplied the underlying figures for 187 nations.

2015 April 2, Jeremy N. Smith, “When ‘Moneyball’ Meets Medicine”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

For years, Amazon seemed to employ a Moneyball approach to media, spreading its bets across less-than-stellar intellectual properties.

2017 November 13, Derek Thompson, “Why Amazon Thinks You Want to Watch a ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV Show (or Five)”, in The Atlantic

(by extension) The application of advanced analytics to any domain in order to improve outcomes.


absolute unit

Compounded of British colloquial senses of absolute (“utter, complete”) + unit (“physically large person”). Attested from the 2010s.

compound

In response to an already pretty embarrassing MIT Technology Review tweet calling the world’s biggest airplane an absolute unit, Musk stopped giggling into his hands just long enough to reply, “I’m an absolute unit too.”

2019 April 18, Reid McCarter, “Bad news, everyone: Elon Musk has discovered the ‘absolute unit’ meme”, in The A.V. Club

(by extension) Anything exceptionally large for its type.


chemical symbol

en-noun

chemical symbol (plural chemical symbols)

(by extension) a similar symbol used to denote a different chemical entity, such as an isotope (e.g. D = deuterium, though "²H" is preferable), a radical (e.g. Ph [or Φ] = phenyl), an unknown (e.g. M = a metal, or X = a halogen), etc.