1. steppe-witch — any of the easily dislodged round plants of the Russian steppes which roll with the wind after dying off, tumbleweed The children will tell you that a steppe-witch brings you luck, but this dried monster lodged beneath the staff car had brought us only ill fortune. 2. Pelmanism — memory training …
Category Archives: Vocabulary
Friday Vocabulary
1. septimanal — weekly; of or related to periods of seven days Truly you’ll find it no more difficult to write for the daily papers than for those septimanal sheets you work for now. 2. blinkard — [obsolete] person with poor vision; idjut Perhaps I’ve been such a blinkard as to overlook their nascent …
Friday Vocabulary
1. ptyalism — [biology] hypersalivation, drooling If no ulcers or other deformations of the mouth are noted, a complete neurologic workup is the next step in determining the cause of the patient’s ptyalism. 2. nystagmatic — of or related to nystagmus, a condition in which the eyes continually jitter or jiggle He looked at …
Friday Vocabulary
1. syncytium — [biology] multinucleate cell or cell mass The syncytia are distributed irregularly throughout the trophospongia except at the point of contact with the trophoblast. 2. jamb — either vertical element alongside a wall opening such as a door or window frame We finally found the bullet, driven into the very bottom of …
Friday Vocabulary
1. davit — [nautical] small crane used on a boat, esp. in pairs for lowering and raising a lifeboat or launch Sudden panic overcame me as I came out of the gangway and saw the lines blowing free in the gale and the davits emptied of the only seaworthy lifeboat on the ship. 2. …
Friday Vocabulary
1. apanthropy — disdain for human companionship, predilection for solitude Among the many powerful feelings which the holidays always inspires in me, an overwhelming sense of apanthropy is perhaps the strongest and most sustained. 2. flannelette — napped cotton made to resemble flannel Marcie wore a fleecy flannelette nightgown striped in blue and yellow, …
Friday Vocabulary
1. isarithm — contour lines The experienced map reader will imagine the elevation denoted by the isarithms, and will visualize the steep escarpments or gradually descending plains depicted by the chart. 2. selsyn — synchro, coordination of physical device to a monitor or control device by use of electric current Transfer of position data …
Friday Vocabulary
1. flytime (also fly-time and fly time) — season when flies are prevalent and pestering During flytime, some ranchers even go so far as to put their cows out to pasture only after sunset, finding that cattle during the day merely tramp the grass and swat flies instead of feeding. 2. snook — protandric …
Friday Vocabulary
1. devilfish — octopus; piranha; devil ray; giant squid; other marine animals with (supposedly) malevolent mien And though that devilfish had his suckers wound around the old man’s arm, the aged diver did not panic, but calmly extracted the octopus from his hiding spot. 2. firedog — andiron Smoke continued to leak into the …
Friday Vocabulary
1. revers — lapel or other garment part turned back to reveal the lining The colonel wore a half-length silk robe in black with revers in a startling crimson. 2. cornice — [architecture] horizontal element surrounding the top of a building; crown molding of walls within a room; overhanging snow in alpine mountains Jeremy …