Wiktionary:Word of the day/Archive/2015/August

2 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 2
perfusionist n
A trained clinician who operates the heart-lung machine during cardiac and other surgeries.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

3 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 3
compunction n
A pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

4 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 4
cajole v
To persuade someone to do something which they are reluctant to do, especially by flattery or promises; to coax.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

5 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 5
descanso n
A cross placed at the site of a violent, unexpected death, in memoriam.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

6 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 6
anapest n
(prosody) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, two short and one long (e.g., the word velveteen). (prosody) A fragment, phrase or line of poetry or verse using this meter, e.g., “Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT!” (Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957)).
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

7 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 7
green gown n
(now archaic, historical) A dress that has been stained green from rolling in the grass; generally with allusion to sexual activity, especially a woman's loss of virginity.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

8 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 8
levant v
To abscond or run away, especially to avoid paying money or debts.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

9 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 9
lah particle
(Manglish and Singlish) Placed at the end of a sentence either for emphasis or reassurance. Don’t think so much lah! It’s okay lah (It's all right. Don't worry about it.).
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

10 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 10
inside baseball n
(US, idiomatic, sports) Technical matters concerning baseball not apparent to spectators. (US, idiomatic, by extension) Matters of interest only to insiders.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

11 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 11
metaknowledge n
(philosophy) Knowledge about knowledge itself. (psychology, artificial intelligence) Knowledge about types, domains, functions, or preconditions of knowledge.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

12 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 12
cicada n
Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent, well-veined wings.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

13 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 13
oobleck n
A mixture of cornstarch and water with unusual physical properties.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

14 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 14
atend v
(transitive, obsolete) To set on fire; kindle. (intransitive, obsolete) To take or catch fire.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

15 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 15
beeline n
A very direct or quick path or trip. (mining, chiefly historical) A dynamite fuse made with a small quantity of dynamite powder along its length, so that the spark travels quickly and at a specific known rate. Today is National Honey Bee Day in the USA in 2015.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

16 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 16
tormentress n
A female tormentor.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

17 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 17
quiddity n
(philosophy) The essence or inherent nature of a person or thing. (law) A trifle; a nicety or quibble. An eccentricity; an odd feature.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

18 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 18
Beowulf cluster n
(computing) A cluster of standard personal computers linked by a local area network, usually of the order of 10 nodes.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

19 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 19
strumpet n
A female prostitute; a woman who is very sexually active. A female adulterer. A mistress. (derogatory) A trollop, a whore.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

20 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 20
kitchen-sinky adj
(informal) Inclusive of too wide a variety of features or items, typically with a resulting trade-off in efficiency or usefulness. Of or pertaining to the kitchen sink drama; depicting social realities in an unstylized and direct manner.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

21 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 21
water of crystallization n
(chemistry) The water present in the crystals of the salts of certain metals; it is weakly bound by electrostatic forces and may normally be removed by heating.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

22 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 22
angleworm n
(Northern US) An earthworm, used as or destined to be used as bait to catch fish.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

23 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 23
budgie smugglers n
(Australia, New Zealand, informal, plural only) A style of tightfitting men's swimming costume cut like underwear briefs that covers the buttocks and groin but not the legs, especially worn in surf lifesaving and in swimming races.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

24 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 24
resplendence n
The property of being, or that which causes something to be, resplendent.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

25 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 25
shirty adj
(informal) Ill-tempered or annoyed.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

26 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 26
yeasayer n
One whose attitude is positive, optimistic, confidently affirmative. (pejorative) One who habitually agrees uncritically.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

27 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 27
wantokism n
The Melanesian cultural practice of relying on one's wantoks for any need, and of sharing the fruits of one's personal success with one's wantoks.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →

28 edit

edit · refresh · view Word of the day for August 28
manumission n
Release from slavery or other legally sanctioned servitude; the giving of freedom; the act of manumitting. On this day, the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 of the United Kingdom received royal assent.
← yesterday \| About Word of the Day • Nominate a word • Leave feedback \| tomorrow →