Sunday, July 31, 2011

FOREBEAR

forebear (also forebear):

- ancestor

- precursor

Example: Seventy years after the first UK jet powered flight took off from Lincolnshire’s RAF Cranwell using Sir Frank Whittle’s turbojet engine, one young Tattershall-born engineer is thanking his pioneering forebear for inspiring another first. [Reference: Tattershall engineer receives bursary]

HANG TOGETHER

hang together:

- to stand united; stick together

- to constitute a coherent totality

Example: As Benjamin Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

IMMESH

immesh: to catch or involve in or as if in a net or snare; entangle

Note: Both immesh and inmesh are variants of enmesh.

SYNAGOG

synagog:

- a building or place of meeting for worship and religious instruction in the Jewish faith

- a congregation of Jews for the purpose of worship or religious study

- the Jewish religion as organized or typified in local congregations

Synagog

BANNERET

banneret:

- a knight who was entitled to command other knights and men-at-arms under his own banner - also called knight banneret

- a title of knighthood conferred by the king for valour on the battlefield

- a small banner

TRAUMATISM

traumatism:

- any abnormal condition, either pathological or psychological, caused by wound or injury, either physical or psychological

- the trauma, wound, or injury itself

Note: The adjective is: traumatic.

Example: One medical publication described the Battle of Borodino as “an extreme case of mass traumatism”. Indeed, the Russian army lost about 50,000 of officers and men of whom not less than 30,000 suffered from wounds of different severity. [Reference: 1812: Who healed wounded Russian soldiers in 1812? Part III]

CONFLAGRATION

conflagration:

- a large disastrous fire

- conflict, war

PRONOUNCIATION: \ˌkän-flə-ˈgrā-shən\

Conflagration

CHORTLE

chortle:

- to sing or chant exultantly

- to laugh or chuckle especially in satisfaction or exultation

- to say or sing with a chortling intonation

Example: Lewis always chortled in his joy.

HULLABALOO

hullabaloo: an uproar or fuss

PRONOUNCIATION: \ˈhə-lə-bə-ˌlü\

Example: The movie also pads out its running time to feature length with a couple of absurd, pre-HULLABALOO choreography sequences. [Reference: http://videowatchdog.blogspot.com/2006_09_10_archive.html]

PULCHRITUDINOUS

pulchritudinous: having great physical beauty or appeal; physically beautiful; comely

PRONOUNCIATION: \ˈpəl-krə-ˌtüd, -ˌtyüd\

Example: “For the pulchritudinous toddler, there are rubbery black maillots crisscrossed by plastic zippers, or gold lame bikinis accented with fluffy wads of gold net by Breaking Waves.” [Reference: Newsweek: Showing Too Much, Too Soon]

MOSEY

mosey:

- to wander or shuffle about leisurely; stroll; saunter (often followed by along, around, or about)

- to leave quickly; decamp

Example:

She moseyed down to the Blue Café for some drinks and delicious foods.

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HIRSUTE

hirsute: shaggy; hairy; bristly

Example:

First of all, your nose is nearly covered with your bloody moustache and your beard, Mr Gogarty replied. Mr Allen apologised for his "hirsute" appearance. [Reference: Paul Cullen, "No ambush sprung on returning Gogarty", Irish Times, March 23, 1999]

TINCTURE

tincture:

- color, tint

- a characteristic quality; cast

- a slight admixture; trace

- a solution of a medicinal substance in an alcoholic solvent

Example:

«There was never a genius without a tincture of madness.» [Aristotle]

FERVID

fervid:

- very hot in enthusiasm, interest, etc.

- burning; glowing

Antonyms:

dispassionate, emotionless, cold

Example:

«Fervid atheism is usually a screen for repressed religion.» [Wilhelm Stekel]

STRUTHIOUS

struthious: of or relating to the ostriches and related birds

Pronunciation

\ˈstrü-thē-əs, -thē-\

Click To Listen

Example:

John hid his head in the sand struthiously (i.e. in the manner that ostriches and related birds do).

BAMBOOZLE

bamboozle:

- to deceive by underhanded methods

- to confuse, frustrate, or throw off completely

AVERSE

averse: having an active feeling of repugnance or distaste

Note: It is usually used with to.

Example:

1) She is averse to environmental degradation, that is why she recycles.

2) He is averse to strenuous exercise.

CRIPPLE

cripple:

noun:

- sometimes offensive: a lame or partly disabled person or animal

- one that is disabled or deficient in a specified manner; e.g., a social cripple

- something flawed or imperfect

adjective:

- being lame, flawed, or imperfect

verb:

- to deprive of the use of a limb and especially a leg; e.g. the accident left him crippled

- to deprive of capability for service or of strength, efficiency, or wholeness; e.g. an economy crippled by inflation

FRILL

frill:

noun:

- a gathered, pleated, or bias-cut fabric edging used on clothing

- a strip of paper curled at one end and rolled to be slipped over the bone end (as of a chop) in serving

- a ruff of hair or feathers or a bony or cartilaginous projection about the neck of an animal

- affectation, air —usually used in plural

- something decorative or useful and desirable but not essential : luxury

verb:

- to provide or decorate with a frill

TABOR

tabor (also tabour): a small and portable drum used to accompany a pipe or fife played by the same person

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