Wiktionary:Word of the day/Archive/2012/May

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Word of the day
for May 1
May-day sweep n
  1. One of the brightly-clad chimney sweeps, carrying garlands and a blackened broom, who participated in May Day parades: "as jocund among us, as a May-day sweep" (Punch), "with a thing only fit for a May-day sweep on one’s head" (The Kafir at Home)
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Word of the day
for May 2
cucumiform adj
  1. Shaped like a cucumber; having the form of a cylinder tapered and rounded at the ends, and possibly curved
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Word of the day
for May 3
cogitable adj
  1. Thinkable, conceivable, able to be imagined
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Word of the day
for May 4
snootful n
  1. (informal) A noseful.
  2. (informal) A significant ingested quantity of an alcoholic beverage
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Word of the day
for May 5
cuckquean n
  1. A woman who has an unfaithful husband
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Word of the day
for May 6
softly softly adv
  1. (UK, idiomatic) In a very tactful, careful, or nondisruptive manner
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Word of the day
for May 7
becastled adj
  1. Fortified by or furnished with a castle or castles
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Word of the day
for May 8
adversity n
  1. (uncountable) The state of adverse conditions; state of misfortune or calamity.
  2. (countable) An event that is adverse; calamity
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Word of the day
for May 9
fuzzword n
  1. A term that is deliberately vague or euphemistic in meaning
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Word of the day
for May 10
cymotrichous adj
  1. (anthropology) Having wavy hair
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Word of the day
for May 11
atheophobia n
  1. Fear or hatred of atheism or atheists
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Word of the day
for May 12
deskfast n
  1. Breakfast eaten at work, particularly while sitting at a desk
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Word of the day
for May 13
mama bear n
  1. (slang) A woman, especially a mother, who is extremely protective of a child or children
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Word of the day
for May 14
sumptuous adj
  1. Magnificent, splendid, extremely good
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Word of the day
for May 15
plangent adj
  1. Having a loud, mournful sound
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Word of the day
for May 16
hue and cry n
  1. (historical) The public pursuit of a felon; accompanied by shouts to warn others to give chase.
  2. (by extension) A loud and persistent public clamour; especially one of protest or making some demand
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Word of the day
for May 17
morpheme n
  1. (linguistics) The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a meaning, such as "un-", "break", and "-able" in the word "unbreakable"
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Word of the day
for May 18
upend v
  1. (transitive) To end up; to set on end.
  2. To tip or turn over.
  3. To destroy, invalidate, overthrow, or defeat
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Word of the day
for May 19
front runner n
  1. (idiomatic) The most likely winners in a contest, election, etc
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Word of the day
for May 20
much of a muchness phrase
  1. (idiomatic) Of two or more things, having little difference of any significance between them
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Word of the day
for May 21
cloudburst n
  1. A sudden heavy rainstorm
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Word of the day
for May 22
sangfroid n
  1. Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a dangerous situation
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Word of the day
for May 23
thagomizer n
  1. (anatomy) An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various stegosaurs
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Word of the day
for May 24
shylock v
  1. (intransitive, US) To lend money at exorbitant rates of interest
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Word of the day
for May 25
masterly inactivity n
  1. (politics) A policy of deliberate inactivity
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Word of the day
for May 26
eyrie n
  1. A bird of prey's nest.
  2. Any high and remote but commanding place
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Word of the day
for May 27
antaphrodisiac adj
  1. Capable of reducing the sex drive
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Word of the day
for May 28
crown molding n
  1. (finish carpentry, interior decorating) A molding at the edge of a room between ceiling and wall
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Word of the day
for May 29
apothegm n
  1. A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim
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Word of the day
for May 30
have Van Gogh's ear for music v
  1. (humorous) To be tone-deaf
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Word of the day
for May 31
omnishambles n
  1. (UK, chiefly politics) A situation that is bad or mismanaged in every way
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