quiescent

qui•es•cent (kwee-ES-uhnt, kwahy-)  adj

Definition:
1. marked by inactivity or repose
2. causing no trouble or symptoms
quiescence, quiescency noun; quiescently adverb; quiesce verb


Origin:
1605; from L. quiescens, prp. of quiescere, from quies "rest, quiet", from PIE base *qwi- "rest"; quiescence is from 1630s; quiesce is used in English from 1828

Related:
Synonyms: inactive, dormant, fallow, idle, immobile, inert, inoperative, motionless, passive, quiet, still, calm, placid, reposeful, reposing, restful, tranquil, undisturbed
Related Words: quiet, acquiesce, requiem

Sentence Examples:
• He acknowledged that Virginia was "not as ready as South Carolina;" but declared that "The first drop of blood spilled on the soil of South Carolina would bring Virginia, and every Southern State, with them."  He thought "it was perhaps better that Virginia, and all other border States, remain quiescent for a time, to serve as a guard against the North.  By remaining in the Union for a time, she would not only prevent coercive legislation in Congress, but any attempt for our subjugation." - The Great Conspiracy,  John Alexander Logan

• Where so many living creatures are to ply their respective powers, in pursuing the end for which they were intended, we are not to look for nature in a quiescent state; matter itself must be in motion, and the scenes of life a continued or repeated series of agitations and events. - Theory of the Earth, James Hutton

• I now strove to be entirely care-free and quiescent; and my conscience justified me in the attempt; though indeed it was not so successful as I could have wished. - Bartleby, The Scrivener, Herman Melville

Sources: Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

apodictic

ap•o•dic•tic (ap-uh-DIK-tik)  adj
also apodeictic (ap-uh-DAHYK-tik)

Definition:
1. incontestable because of having been demonstrated or proved to be demonstrable
2. (of a logical proposition) necessarily true or logically certain
apodictically adverb

Origin:
1650s, from L. apodicticus, from Gk. apodeiktikos, from apodeiktos, verbal adjective of apodeiknynai "to show off, demonstrate," lit. "to point away from" (other objects, at one), from apo "off, away" + deiknynai "to show"

Related:
Synonyms: certain, inarguable, incontestable, incontrovertible, indisputable, indubitable, irrebuttable, irrefragable, proven, unassailable, undeniable, unimpeachable, unquestionable
Related Words: paradigm

Sentence Examples:
• The Chatelaine of a certain sugar plantation in Louisiana, in preparing a list of guests for her house-party, discovered, in one of those explosive moments of inspiration, that all people were easily divided into two fundamental groups or families, the Sulphites and the Bromides. The revelation was apodictic, convincing; it made life a different thing; it made society almost plausible. - Are You A Bromide?, Gelett Burgess

• When we add further that, unless we deny that the notion of morality has any truth or reference to any possible object, we must admit that its law must be valid, not merely for men, but for all rational creatures generally, not merely under certain contingent conditions or with exceptions, but with absolute necessity, then it is clear that no experience could enable us to infer even the possibility of such apodictic laws. For with what right could we bring into unbounded respect as a universal precept for every rational nature that which perhaps holds only under the contingent conditions of humanity? - Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Moral, Immanuel Kant

• If it be assumed that those principles only are practical, which may be applied immediately by every reader, in practice, this work must disclaim all pretensions to that title. I doubt very much if, in this sense, there is a single science susceptible of a practical exposition. Genuine practitioners, who know life with its thousands of relations by experience, will be the first to grant that such a collection of prescriptions, when the question is the knowledge and guidance of men, would be misleading and dangerous in proportion as such prescriptions were positive and apodictic, that is non-practical and doctrinarian. - Principles Of Political Economy, William Roscher

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

inquinate

in•qui•nate (IN-kwuh-neyt)  v tr

Definition:
to defile; to corrupt; to pollute; to contaminate

inquination noun

Origin:
from Latin inquinatus, past part. of inquinare “polluting”, from in- + -quinare

Related:
Synonyms: maculate, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain

Sentence Examples:
• Spanish clay should, prior to its use, be finely pulverised, and then be kept for twenty-four hours in water, in which about 1 oz. of sulphuric acid has been mixed for every gallon. After twenty-four hours, the acidulated water is decanted, and the clay then washed in fresh water two or three times. This is necessary to remove all the carbonates which inquinate commercial Spanish clay. - The Agricultural gazette of New South Wales, Charles Lennox Anderson, W. H. Clarke, F. G. Chomley

• The individual soul is absolutely different from the highest Self; it is inquinated by the contact with its different limiting adjuncts. But it is spoken of, in the Upanishad, as non-different from the highest Self because after having purified itself by means of knowledge and meditation it may pass out of the body and become one with the highest Self. - The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary, Sankaracarya

• Mists and fogs, containing commonly vegetable spirits, when they dissolve and return upon the earth, may fecundate and add some fertility unto it, but they may be more unwholesome in great cities than in country habitations: for they consist of vapours not only elevated from simple watery and humid places, but also the exhalations of draughts, common sewers, and foetid places, and decoctions used by unwholesome and sordid manufactures: and also hindering the sea-coal smoke from ascending and passing away, it is conjoined with the mist and drawn in by the breath, all which may produce bad effects, inquinate the blood, and produce catarrhs and coughs. - The Works of Sir Thomas Browne


Sources: Free Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

graduand

grad•u•and (GRAJ-oo-and)  n

Definition:
a student who is about to graduate or receive a degree
Origin:
1882, from M.L. graduandus, gerundive of graduari "to take a degree," from L. gradus "step, grade", from PIE *ghredh-

Related:
Related Words: graduate; grade, degree, progression, congress

Sentence Examples:
• It was from the 'hopeful gatherings', to a large extent rehearsals for the following stage, that the graduands set forth to meet the chief examiner and to perform the ceremony of gratitude. - State and court ritual in China, Joseph Peter McDermott

• According to the 1545 statutes, the graduand at the Studio pisano had to swear in the hands of the prior of the college that he had studued for five years in the faculty in which he sought his degree. - Culture and power: Tuscany and its universities 1537-1609, Jonathan Davies

• The degrees which Oxford and Cambridge conferred in Grammar did not involve residence or entitle the recipients to a vote in Convocation; but the conferment was accompanied by ceremonies which were almost parodies of the solemn proceedings of graduation or inception in a recognised Faculty, a birch taking the place of a book as a symbol of the power and authority entrusted to the graduand. - Medieval University, Robert S. Rait


Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

maculate

mac•u•late

Definition:
 adj (MAK-yuh-lit)
1. spotted; stained
2. defiled; impure

n (MAK-yuh-leyt)
3. to mark with a spot or spots; stain
4. to sully or pollute

Origin:
1375–1425; from L. maculatus, pp. of maculare "to make spotted, to speckle," from macula "spot, stain"

Related:
Synonyms: befoul, besmirch, contaminate, dirty, discolor, pollute, soil, stain, sully, taint, tar, tarnish; mottled, speckled, blotchy, motley, spotted
Antonym: immaculate

Related Words: macular, immaculate, emaculate

Sentence Examples:
• A steady twitching commenced in a muscle at the flange of his nose. Woolfolk was aware of an increasing tension in the other, that gained a peculiar oppressiveness from the lack of any corresponding outward expression. His heavy, blunt hand fumbled under the maculate apron; his chest heaved with a sudden, tempestuous breathing. - Wild Oranges, Joseph Hergesheimer

• John sat in dumb agony.  Colette's foul walls and maculate table-linen, and even down to Colette's villainous casters, seemed like objects in a nightmare. - Tales and Fantasies, Robert Louis Stevenson

• In its single garment, in its woollen hair, and upon its maculate body the doll carried, perhaps, the germs of typhoid, of pneumonia, of tetanus, and of consumption; but all night it lay in the arms of its little mother, and was not permitted to harm her or hers. - IT and Other Stories, Gouverneur Morris

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

excogitate

ex•cog•i•tate (eks-KOJ-i-teyt)  v tr

Definition:
1. to devise, invent, or contrive
2. to think out in detail
3. to study intently and carefully in order to grasp or comprehend fully

excogitated past participle; excogitated past tense; excogitating present participle; excogitates 3rd person singular present; excogitation, excogitator noun; excogitable, excogitative adjective

Origin:
circa 1530; from Latin excogitatus, past participle of excogitare "to devise, invent, think out", from ex- + cogitare "to think", apparently from co-agitare, from com- "together" + agitare, here in a sense of "to turn over in the mind," lit. "to put in constant motion, drive, impel," frequentative of agere "to move, drive"

Related:
Synonyms: conceive, consider, contemplate, contrive, deliberate, derive, develop, devise, educe, invent, perpend, ponder, ruminate, study
Related Words: cogitate

Sentence Examples:
• The Father Brown of these stories—moon-faced little man—is a peculiar creation. No other author would have taken the trouble to excogitate him, and then treat him so badly. - G. K. Chesterton, A Critical Study, Julius West

• His income, as collector of rents and manager of estates large or small, totalled about a pound a week. But, he walked forth in the town, smiled, joked, spoke vaguely, and said, "Do you?" to such a tune that his income might have been guessed to be anything from ten pounds a week to ten thousand a year. And he had four days a week in which to excogitate new methods of creating a fortune. - The Card, Arnold Bennett

• To make only passing mention of less spiritual amusements, with which he could not wholly dispense--he spent most of his time in writing a polemic against the slanderer Voltaire, hoping that the publication of this document would serve, upon his return to Venice, to give him unchallenged position and prestige in the eyes of all well-disposed citizens. One morning he went out for a walk beyond the town limits to excogitate the final touches for some sentences that were to annihilate the infidel Frenchman. - Casanova's Homecoming, Arthur Schnitzler

Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

collocate

col•lo•cate (KOL-uh-keyt

Definition:
v tr
1. to set or place together, especially side by side or in a particular relation
2. to arrange in proper order: to collocate events
3. to be habitually juxtaposed with another with a frequency greater than chance (of a word)
v intr
4. to enter into a collocation (linguistics)
n
5. a word that is habitually juxtaposed with another with a frequency greater than chance
collocated past participle; collocated past tense; collocating present participle; collocates 3rd person singular present; collocation noun

Origin:
early 13c; from L. collocatus, pp. of collocare "to arrange, place together, set in a place," from com- "together" + locare "to place"

Related:
Related Words: locate, allocate, couch

Sentence Examples:
• Mr. Forsyth says: "Nothing can exceed the beauty of the language, the rhythmical flow of the periods, and the harmony of the style. The structure of the Latin language, which enables the speaker or writer to collocate his words, not, as in English, merely according to the order of thought, but in the manner best calculated to produce effect, too often baffles the powers of the translator who seeks to give the force of the passage without altering the arrangement." - The Life of Cicero, Anthony Trollope

• Or, to put it in other words, though certain causes, collocated in the proper way, would, on this view of evolution, explain everything which ensued from that collocation, we should still want to know why the causes were collocated in that particular way rather than in any other. - Evolution, Frank B. Jevons

• When he hears a nightingale-"sad Philomel!"-he concludes that the bird was originally created for no other purpose than to prophesy in Paradise the fall of man, or, as he chooses to collocate the words, "Prophetic to have mourned of man the fall," but he does not tell us what she has been doing ever since. - Famous Reviews, R. Brimley Johnson


Sources: Dictionary.com, Google, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

bovarism

bo•va•ris•m (BOH-vuh-riz-uhm)  n

Definition:
1. an exaggerated, especially glamorized, estimate of oneself; conceit
     esp : domination of one's general behavior by such an unreal conception of oneself that it results in dramatic personal conflict (as in tragedy), in markedly unusual behavior (as in paranoia), or in great achievement
2. an anxiety to escape from a social or sentimental condition judged to be unsatisfactory, sometimes by building a fictitious personality (psychology)

Origin:
1900–05;  from French bovaryisme,  after Emma Bovary,  a character in Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary

Sentence Examples:
• Flaubert, on the other hand, is indicted for having created an inverted kind of bovarism, one in which emulation of his narrator leads to persistent refusal to give in to representation, while yielding to it by the very process of imitating his stance. Flaubertism is also a form of bovarism, one from which Carpentier seems incapable of escaping. - Poetics of the Americas: race, founding, and textuality, Bainard Cowan, Jefferson Humphries

• Whether the distinguished French philosopher still complacently accepts the permanence of war in human affairs, or whether he now suspects that his defence of war was a manifestation of that Bovarism he so luminously defined, there is no public evidence to show. - The philosophy of conflict: and other essays in war-time, Havelock Ellis

• With her unquenchable bovarism, Oriane needed to find a new role for me. ... She soon found it: I became for her 'mon juene ecrivain', her young writer, whose career she nursed. - Quicksands, Sybille Bedford

Sources: Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, Wiktionary

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

peccant

pec•cant (PEK-uhnt)  adj

Definition:
1. sinning; guilty of a moral offense
2. violating a rule, principle, or established practice; faulty; wrong
3. producing disease; morbid (medicine)

peccancy noun; peccantly adverb

Origin:
c.1604; from L. peccantem, prp. of peccare “to sin”

Related:
Synonyms: corrupt, erring, guilty, sinful
Related Words: peccadillo, impeccable

Sentence Examples:
• More than ever does he tremble on his perch; tighter than ever clutching the throat of his canine companion. For he is sure, that the man whose footsteps speak approach, is his master, or rather his master’s son. The sounds seem to indicate great haste—a retreat rapid, headlong, confused. On which the peccant slave bases a hope of escaping observation, and too probable chastisement. - The Death Shot, Mayne Reid

• "But they say, my trusty miller, that this chapel of the fairies may not be visited, forbidden as it is to all catholic and devout Christians, after nightfall." At this intimation the peccant miller displayed his broad thumbs, and looked so dolorous and apprehensive, sprawling out his large ungainly proportions, that Eleanor, though not prone to the indulgence of mirth, was mightily moved thereto by the cowardly and dismal aspect he betrayed.- Traditions of Lancashire,  John Roby

• This figure, which is copied from Caylus, ... represents Osiris grasping his phallus while taking an oath. A custom greatly resembling this manner of swearing existed also in the north of Europe, as is proved by an ancient law still extant: thus, one of the articles of the Welsh laws enacted by Hoel the Good, provides that, in cases of rape, if the woman wishes to prosecute the offender, she must, when swearing to the identity of the criminal, lay her right hand upon the relics of the saints and grasp with her left one, the peccant member of the party accused. - Aphrodisiacs and Anti-aphrodisiacs: Three Essays on the Powers of Reproduction, John Davenport

Sources: Dictionary.com, Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

nocent

no•cent (NOH-suhnt)  adj

Definition:
1. harmful; injurious
2. guilty (archaic)
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English  from Latin nocent,  stem of nocens,  present participle of nocere  "to do harm"

Related:
Synonyms: damaging, deleterious, detrimental, disadvantageous, evil, harmful, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, prejudicial, ruinous, harmful
Related Words: innocent, nocuous, noxious, nuisance, pernicious, innocuous

Sentence Examples:
• But the law, except when it was on their own side, was of little importance to the church authorities. As they had failed to prove Philips guilty of heresy, they called upon him to confess his guilt by abjuring it; "as if," he says, "there were no difference between a nocent and an innocent, between a guilty and a not guilty." - History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth, James Anthony Froude

• These were demonstrated in your own observations made years ago. They show that Algæ are parasitic in the living spleen of healthy turtles. This leads to the remark that all parasitic growths are not nocent. - Scientific American Supplement, 1883

• Shortly, if an expurgatory index were compiled of those, and all other sorts of men, who either through their careless and neutral on looking, make no help to the troubled and disquieted church of Christ, or through their nocent accession and overthwart intermeddling, work out her greater harm, alas! how few feeling members were there to be found behind who truly lay to heart her estate and condition? - The Works of Mr. George Gillespie

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

roborant

rob•or•ant (ROB-er-uhnt)

Definition:
adj
restoring vigor or strength
n
a restorative or tonic
Origin:
1655–65; from Latin roborare "to strengthen", from robur, robus "strength," also "a special kind of oak"

Related:
Synonyms: tonic, energizing, invigorating, refreshing, reinvigorating, renewing, restorative, rousing, stimulating
Related Words: corroborate, robust

Sentence Examples:
• Extract of malt I have employed as a roborant, either alone or in conjunction with iron, in cases of debility and malnutrition, and found it of service. - The Electric Bath, George M. Schweig

• Like so many other things in medicine we owe the use of roborants to empiricism. The beneficial roborant action of a large number of remedies was determined in an empirical manner, and these were employed for a long time without any scientific explanation of their action. - Clinical excerpts, 1904

• The therapeutic action of the albumoses may be briefly summarized as follows: They act, first, as appetizers: second, by promoting intestinal functions; and, third, as nutrients. Their general effect is eminently roborant, and hence their supply for therapeutic purposes the best, because the most natural tonics. - Occidental Medical Times, 1902

Sources: Free Dictionary, WordSmith

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

tenesmus

te•nes•mus (tuh-NEZ-muhs, -NES-)  n

Definition:
a distressing but ineffectual urge to evacuate the rectum or bladder
Origin:
1527; from L. tenesmos, from Gk. tenesmos “straining,” from teinein “to stretch”

Related:
Related Words: tetanus, hypotenuse, neoteny, tendon

Sentence Examples:
• The general complaints of disease among us, were a dizziness in the head, great weakness of the joints, and violent tenesmus, most of us having had no evacuation by stool since we left the ship. I had constantly a severe pain at my stomach; but none of our complaints were alarming; on the contrary, every one retained marks of strength, that, with a mind possessed of any fortitude, could bear more fatigue than I hoped we had to undergo in our voyage to Timor. - The Mutiny, On Board His Majesty's Ship Bounty; And The Subsequent Voyage Of Part Of The Crew, In The Ship's Boat, William Bligh

• This may be given as an emulsion with pancreatic extract. This will suit some people well, and result in a single passage daily, but in others may be annoying, and be either badly retained or not retained at all, and may give rise to tenesmus. - Fat and Blood, S. Weir Mitchell

• One of the people had been so provident as to bring away with him from the ship a copper pot: by being in possession of this article, we were enabled to make a proper use of the supply we now obtained; for, with a mixture of bread, and a little pork, we made a stew that might have been relished by people of far more delicate appetites, and of which each person received a full pint.  The general complaints of disease among us were a dizziness in the head, great weakness of the joints, and violent tenesmus. - Great Sea Stories

Sources: Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

satyriasis

sa•ty•ri•a•sis (sey-tuh-RAHY-uh-sis, sat-uh-)  n

Definition:
excessive, often uncontrollable sexual desire in and behavior by a man
satyric adjective
Origin:
1650s, medical Latin, from Gk. satyriasis, from satyros

Related:
Synonyms: gynecomania, satyrism, satyromania. Cf. nymphomania
Related Words: satyr

Sentence Examples:
• "If a man wears about his neck a card inscribed with these identical words written in this juice, he will beget a male. Conversely, if a woman, she will conceive a female". Gilbert, however, cautions the bearer of this potent charm of the possible dangers of satyriasis incurred thereby, and offers suitable remedies for so alarming a condition. - Gilbertus Anglicus, Henry Ebenezer Handerson

• "The men most liable to satyriasis," Bouchereau states, "are those with vigorous nervous system, developed muscles, abundant hair on body, dark complexion, and white teeth." - Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Havelock Ellis

• Maniacs are prone to satyriasis and bacchanalian excesses. They commit rape and indecent acts in public and often appropriate strange objects, hair or wearing apparel, with the idea of obtaining means to satisfy their vices, either because they are unconscious of doing wrong or because, like true megalomaniacs, they believe the stolen goods to be their own property. - Criminal Man, Gina Lombroso-Ferrero

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

abjure

ab•jure (ab-JOOR, -JUR)  v tr

Definition:
1. to renounce, repudiate, or retract, especially with formal solemnity; recant
2. to renounce or give up under oath; forswear
3. to avoid or shun
abjured past participle; abjured past tense; abjuring present participle; abjures 3rd person singular present; abjuration, abjurer noun; abjuratory adjective

Origin:
early 15c., from M.Fr. abjurer or directly from L. abjurare "deny on oath," from ab- "away" + jurare "to swear," related to jus (gen. juris) "law"

Related:
Synonyms: forswear, recant, renege, renounce, retract, withdraw
Related Words: jury, conjure, adjure, perjury

Sentence Examples:
• This literary trifle, “A Message to Garcia,” was written one evening after supper, in a single hour. ... The thing leaped hot from my heart, written after a trying day, when I had been endeavoring to train some rather delinquent villagers to abjure the comatose state and get radio-active. - A Message to Garcia, Elbert Hubbard

• It is true that two of these Little People have no friends at all, but then it was their own choice, for did they not deliberately cast themselves away, and abjure all society but that of their mute companion? - Seven Little People and their Friends, Horace Elisha Scudder

•    Now, Faustus,
     Must thou needs be damn'd, canst thou not be sav'd.
     What boots it, then, to think on God or heaven?
     Away with such vain fancies, and despair;
     Despair in God, and trust in Belzebub:
     Now, go not backward, Faustus; be resolute:
     Why waver'st thou?  O, something soundeth in mine ear,
     "Abjure this magic, turn to God again!"
     Why, he loves thee not;
     The god thou serv'st is thine own appetite,
     Wherein is fix'd the love of Belzebub:
     To him I'll build an altar and a church,
     And offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes.
- Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe


Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

xylograph

xy•lo•graph (ZAHY-luh-graf)  n

Definition:
1. an engraving on wood
2. an impression from a woodblock

Origin:
1860–65; from Gk. xylon "wood"  + -graph "something written"

Related:
Synonym: woodcut

Related Words: xylophone

Sentence Examples:
• The better rooms are frescoed with Buddhistic paintings, and on the third floor is a library, now used as a hospital, where xylograph editions of the Lamaist scriptures and lives of the saints are pigeon-holed in lockers in the wall.  - The Unveiling of Lhasa, by Edmund Candler

• There can be no doubt of the whole of this production being xylographical. Unluckily, this fine copy has the first and last pages of the text in MS. The other pages, with blank reverses, are faintly impressed in brown ink: especially the first, which seems to be injured. - Principia typographica, Samuel Leigh Sotheby

• Manuscripts, whether handsomely embellished or copied simply without ornament, were expensive luxuries which only the rich could purchase. With the revival of learning, for students in general, for the poorer classes, for school children, cheap books costing as little as possible, but serving the same end as the manuscript, were necessary, and the xylograph came at its hour. - Early woodcut initials, Oscar Jennings

Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

funambulate

fu•nam•bu•late (fu-NAM-byoo-leyt)  v

Definition:
to walk or dance on ropes; to tightrope walk
funambuted past participle; funambuted past tense; funambuting present participle; funambutes 3rd person singular present; funambulation, funambulist, funambulism, funambulater noun; funambulatingly, funambulatedly adverb

Origin:
from French funambule from, Latin funambulus, from funis "rope" + ambulare "walk"

Related:
Related Words: funicular, ambulate, amble, ambulance

Sentence Examples:
• Walking the tight rope In the olden day, funambulists (pelhoonash: roughly: 'free fliers') were crowd favourites throughout Vainakh lands and they were a source of pride to their families. Cadets were taught the art of funambulation from early age. - The Chechens, Amjad M. Jaimoukha
• In due course the intrepid rope-walker — who, despite all predictions to the contrary, did not break his neck and dash himself to pieces, but perversely lived on to a great old age, dying comfortably in his bed a few years ago—betook himself to Sydenham Grounds to arrange the fixing of his high rope in order that he might airily funambulate from tower to tower, so to speak. - Sixty years' stage service, Henry Chance Newton
• Hither my father proposed to wade or swim, or, who knows, perhaps proceed by some private method of funambulation, should he be surprised in Scarborough by the returning Germans and unable to make a get-away in Dr. Mallard's motor. - Laughter in the Next Room, Osbert Sitwell

Sources: Websters, Wiktionary

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

lubricious

lu•bri•cious (loo-BRISH-uhs)  adj

Definition:
1. arousing or expressive of sexual desire; lustful; lecherous
2. having a slippery or smooth quality
3. shifty or tricky
lubriciousness, lubricity noun;  lubriciously adverb

lubricous
lu•bri•cous (LOO-bri-kuhs) adj
1. (of a surface, coating, etc.) having an oily smoothness; slippery
2. unstable; shifty; fleeting

Origin:
1580s, from L. lubricus "to make slippery or smooth," from lubricus "slippery"

Related:
Synonyms: concupiscent, lascivious, carnal, immoral, indecent, lecherous, lewd, libertine, libidinous, licentious,  lustful, obscene, prurient, salacious, sensual, wanton; slick, greasy, oily, oleaginous, sleek, slippery; crafty, crooked, cunning, deceptive, devious, dishonest, disingenuous, fraudulent, guileful, shady, shifty, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, treacherous, tricky, underhanded, unscrupulous, wily
Related Words: lubricant

Sentence Examples:
• The great number of severe accidents annually caused by the idiotic custom of casting orange-peel and such other lubricious integuments recklessly about the side-walks, has long furnished a topic for public animadversion. Some of our leading citizens have taken the matter in hand--or, to speak more correctly, on foot. - Punchinello, 1870

• Schiller is always in pursuit of the intense, the extraordinary, the ecstatic, and sometimes fails to impress through sheer superabundance of the impressive. His imagination wanders between a wild sensuality,--so lubricious in its suggestions, now and then, as to occasion gossip to the effect that he had become a libertine,--and a sublimated philosophy based on Platonic conceptions of a prenatal existence, or upon Leibnitzian conceptions of a pre-established harmony. - The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller, Calvin Thomas

• It is on the side of sex that the appointed virtuosi of virtue exercise their chief repressions, for it is sex that especially fascinates the lubricious Puritan mind; but the conventual reticence that thus becomes the enforced fashion in one field extends itself to all others. - A Book of Prefaces, by H. L. Mencken

Why This Word:
Lubricious and lubricous are synonyms excepting lubricous lacks the sense of being wanton or lascivious.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

zaftig

zaf•tig (ZAHF-tik, -tig)  adj
also zoftig

Definition:
1. (of a woman) having a pleasantly plump figure
2. full-bodied; well-proportioned



Origin:

1937; from Yiddish zaftik, lit. "juicy," from zaft "juice," from Middle High German saft "juice," from Old High German saf

Related:
Synonyms: buxom, ample, built, busty, chubby, comely, curvaceous, curvy, full-bosomed, full-figured, healthy, hearty, lusty, plump, robust, shapely, stacked, voluptuous
Related Words: sap

Sentence Examples:
• The phase is familiar, and Raquel Welch is going through it. "People think of me as some zaftig lady with two stereo nose cones staring everyone in the face," she admits. "The American idea of sex is two outsized mammary glands." - Time, 1969

• When I started out, I was kind of zaftig. I would have had to get anorexia. They would have said, "She is way too chubby." - Out, 2006

• Artist Piet Parra animates the song's explicit cheekiness with a menu of salaciously dancing zaftig female forms being spooned out of cereal bowls and slurped out of straws, and having their breasts tweaked to the beat. - Spin, 2008

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

yips

yips (yips)  n

Definition:
the apparent loss of certain fine motor skills seemingly without explanation in one of a number of different sports, esp golf

Origin:
[Golfer Tommy] Armour is believed to have coined the term "yips" to describe the nervous affliction that makes short putts treacherous for some golfers. He said of the yips, "Once you've had 'em, you've got 'em."


Sentence Examples:
• But during the playoffs, Ankiel got a case of the yips as he couldn't find the strike zone. In one inning, he walked four batters and threw five wild pitches — an event not witnessed since 1890 — before manager Tony La Russa mercifully removed him. - Time, 2009

• And he was far from alone; the yips often robs a golfer of the ability to sink even the most routine putts. - The Body Has a Mind of Its Own, Sandra Blakeslee, Matthew Blakeslee

• The yips afflict people performing a variety of professions, including musicians, stenographers, dentists, and surgeons. Thy are most likely to hit folks who overuse the muscles involved in guiding precision movements. So it's no surprise that as Mia's dad ups his time on the green, his likelihood of experiencing the yips increases as well. - Defending a Small Continent, Hugh White, Sian Beilock

Sources: Wikipediia, About.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

habiliment

ha•bil•i•ment (huh-BIL-uh-muhnt)  n
often plural

Definition:
1. clothing, especially the special dress or garb associated with an occasion or office
2. characteristic furnishings or equipment; trappings (habiliments)

habilimental, habilimentary, habilimented adjective
Origin:
early 15c.; from M.Fr. habillement, from abiller "prepare or fit out," probably from habile "fit, suitable"; alternative etymology makes the French verb originally mean "reduce a tree by stripping off the branches," from a- "to" + bille "stick of wood"; sense of "clothing, dress" developed late 15c., by association with habit

Related:
Synonyms: clothing, apparel, attire, clothes, dress, garb, gown, trappings
Related Words: able, habit

Sentence Examples:
• A lackey, whose habiliment, neat but not gaudy, indicated the unostentatious disposition of his master,, answered the summons of the knocker: "Mr. C. was gone to his office at the Royal Exchange." - Real Life in London
 
• The bedroom was shockingly cold. Going to bed is a test of character. I pride myself on the fact that generally, even when my room is cold, I can, with steady nerve and resolute hand, remove the last habiliment, and without undignified precipitation reach for and indue the nocturnal garment, I admit, however, that on this occasion I gave way to a weak irresolution at the critical instant and shivered for some moments in constantly increasing demoralization, before I could make up my mind to the final change. - The Cold Snap, Edward Bellamy

• Shaw passed on to the camp, while I remained to call upon Colonel Kearny. I found him still at table. There sat our friend the captain, in the same remarkable habiliments in which we saw him at Westport; the black pipe, however, being for the present laid aside. - The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman, Jr.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

dissemble

dis•sem•ble (dih-SEM-buhl)  v

Definition:
verb tr
1. to give a false or misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or real nature of
2. to put on the appearance of; feign
3. to let pass unnoticed; ignore (obsolete)
verb intr
4. to conceal one's true motives, thoughts, etc., by some pretense; speak or act hypocritically
dissembled past participle; dissembled past tense; dissemblng present participle; dissembles 3rd person singular present; dissembler noun; dissemblingly adverb

Origin:
early 15c; (implied in dissemblable), apparently a variant of M.E. dissimule (influenced by M.Fr. dessembler or English resemble), late 14c., from O.Fr. dissimuler, from L. dissimulare "make unlike, conceal, disguise," from dis- "completely" + simulare "pretend, assume, simulate" from stem of similis "like" from Old L. semol "together," from PIE base *sem-/*som- "same"

Related:
Synonyms: disguise, camouflage, cloak, conceal, counterfeit, dissimulate, falsify, feign, mask, shroud
Related Words: dissimulate, simulation, assemble, assimilate, semblance

Sentence Examples:
• Affection, respect; intimacy, confidence, no longer attached the pupils to their guides; we beheld them no longer as divinities, who could read the secrets of our hearts; we were less ashamed of committing faults, more afraid of being accused of them: we learned to dissemble, to rebel, to lie: all the vices common to our years began to corrupt our happy innocence, mingle with our sports, and embitter our amusements.  - The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau


 • It is idle, it is disingenuous, to deny or to dissemble the early depravations of Christianity, its gradual but rapid departure from its primitive simplicity and purity, still more, from its spirit of universal love. - The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon


Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

anabiosis

an•a•bi•o•sis (an-uh-bahy-OH-sis)  n

Definition:
1. a restoring to life from a deathlike condition; resuscitation
2. a state of suspended animation, especially one in which certain aquatic invertebrates are able to survive long periods of drought

anabiotic adjective
Origin:
1885–90;  from Neo-Latin  from Greek anabíosis  "a coming back to life", equivalent to anabio-,  variant stem of anabioûn  "to return to life"  + -sis

Sentence Examples:
• The Japanese have their sushi prepared from resuscitated fish flown, in a state of anabiosis (organic rhythm slowed through refrigeration), from wherever the beloved delicacies are still available. - The Civilization of Illiteracy, Mihai Nadin

• John Hunter, supported by his experiments on anabiosis, hoped to prolong the life of man indefinitely by alternate freezing and thawing; and the Veronese Colonel Aless. Guaguino made his contemporaries believe that a race of men existed in Russia, of which the individuals died regularly every year on the 27th of November, and returned to life on the 24th of the following April. - The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Sir James George Frazer

• In 2037 it was discovered that the Chinese were cheating on both treaties. Having worked out a successful technique for suspended animation, they were placing huge military reserves in anabiosis in caves throughout restricted areas of China, until the time came to overwhelm the world. - Science-fiction: the Gernsback years, Everett Franklin Bleiler, Richard Bleiler

Sources: Free  Dictionary, Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

sacerdotal

sac•er•dot•al (sas-uhr-DOHT-l, sak-)  adj

Definition:
1. of or relating to priests or the priesthood; priestly
2. of or relating to sacerdotalism
sacerdotally adverb
Origin:
c.1400; from O.Fr. sacerdotal, from L. sacerdotalis "of or pertaining to a priest," from sacerdos (gen. sacerdotis) "priest," lit. "offerer of sacrifices," from sacer "holy" + stem of dare "to give"

Related:
Synonyms: clerical, apostolic, canonical, churchly, cleric, ecclesiastic, ecclesiastical, episcopal, ministerial, monastic, papal, parsonical, parsonish, pastoral, pontifical, prelatic, priestly, rabbinical, theocratical
Related Words: sacrifice, sacrosanct, sacrilege, sacred; data, date, edition, mandate, tradition

Sentence Examples:
• I have frequently spoken of the Mexican priests, and the time has now come for dwelling more explicitly on this priesthood. It was very numerous, and had a strong organization reared on an aristocratic basis, into which political calculations manifestly entered. The noblest families (including that of the monarch) had the exclusive privilege of occupying the highest sacerdotal offices. - Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Native Religions of Mexico and Peru, Albert Réville

• While, however, the ordinary priest chose for himself a single master to whom he devoted himself, the priest-king exercised universal sacerdotal functions and claimed to be pontiff of all the national religions. - History of Egypt, G Maspero

• The inscriptions possess a certainty and precision that is frequently absent in the phrases of the writers. They enable one to draw important conclusions as to the dates of propagation and disappearance of the various religions, their extent, the quality and social rank of their votaries, the sacred hierarchy and sacerdotal personnel, the constitution of the religious communities, the offerings made to the gods, and the ceremonies performed in their honor; in short, conclusions as to the secular and profane history of these religions, and in a certain measure their ritual. - The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, Franz Cumont

Wikipedia:

Sacerdotalism is the idea that a propitiatory sacrifice for sin must be offered by the intervention of an order of men separated to the priesthood. This system of the priesthood is taught in the Old Testament. The term sacerdotalism comes from the Latin sacerdos, priest, literally one who presents sacred offerings, sacer, sacred, and dare, to give.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

kef

kef (kef)  n
also kif, keif or keef

Definition:
1. a state of drowsy contentment, especially from the use of a narcotic
2. a substance, especially a smoking preparation of hemp leaves or marijuana, used to produce this state



Origin:

1808, from Arabic kaif "well-being, good-humor"; in Morocco and Algeria, it was the name for Indian hemp

Sentence Examples:
• In the cool and shady retreat from the crowd to which Gilbert's footsteps had led him, an Italian might have lain dreaming half the day, and an Oriental would have sat down to withdraw himself from the material tedium of life in the superior atmosphere of kef. - Via Crucis, F. Marion Crawford

• A design that attracts is a flight of steps feebly lighted by a solitary light, hemmed in by ancient walls; on the last step lurks an anonymous person. A fine bit of old-fashioned romance is conjured up; also memories of Piranesi. The drowning woman is indescribable, yet not without a note of pathos. Buddha is one of the artist's highest flights. The Oriental mysticism, the Kef, as ecstasy is called in the East, are admirably expressed. His studies of deep-sea life border on the remarkable.  - Ivory Apes and Peacocks, James Hune

• Yet what a difference between the orderly composure of these holiday makers, and the noisy mirth of our own compatriots. These folks take their kef, as they do every thing else, quietly. Here you may see hundreds of revellers, and not a drunkard among them. - Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, 1847

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

busk

busk (busk)


Definition:
v intr
1. to entertain in a public place for donations
2. to make a showy or noisy appeal (Canada)

busked past participle; busked past tense; busking present participle; busks 3rd person singular present; busker noun

Definition: 
v tr
1. to make ready; prepare
2. to dress or adorn 

busked past participle; busked past tense; busking present participle; busks 3rd person singular present

Definition: 
n

a strip of whalebone, wood, steel, etc, inserted into the front of a corset to stiffen it

Origin:
"to offer goods for sale only in bars and taprooms," 1851 (in Mayhew), perhaps from busk "to cruise as a pirate," which was used in a figurative sense by 1841, in reference to people living shifless and peripatetic lives; the nautical term is attested from 1660s (in a general sense of "to tack, to beat to windward"), apparently from obs. Fr. busquer "to shift, filch, prowl," which is related to It. buscare "to filch, prowl," Sp. buscar (from O.Sp. boscar), perhaps originally from bosco "wood" (see bush), with a hunting notion of "beating a wood" to flush game

"to prepare, to dress oneself," also "to go, set out," c.1300, probably from O.N. buask "to prepare oneself," reflexive of bua "to prepare"; most common in northern M.E. and surviving chiefly in Scottish and northern English dialect







"whalebone" 16th C; from Old French busc , probably from Old Italian busco  "splinter, stick", of Germanic origin

Sentence Examples:
• We chatted very pleasantly on the road, and it was agreed, with no dissentient, that I should call at the first tavern we came to in Brighouse, and do a bit of busking. - Adventures and Recollections, Bill o'th'Hoylus End

• They clung to the skirts of the theatre for a bit. But the theatre, aching to be "in it", flung them off. The intellectual drama had no use for them, no use at all. And so they found themselves (out of it indeed) busking on the pavement, doing tricks and tumbling and singing silly songs to the unresponsive profiles of long lines of ladies (high-nosed or stumpy-nosed ladies), waiting admittance to the matinées of some highly intellectual play. - The Harlequinade, Dion Clayton Calthrop and Granville Barker

• When the affair has been brought to a happy issue, she attends, in an official capacity, the busking of the victim; and when she sees her at length assume the (lace) veil, and prepare to go forth to be actually married—a contingency she had till that moment denied in her secret heart to be within the bounds of possibility—she falls upon her neck as hysterically as a regard for the frocks of both will allow, and indulges in a silent fit of tears, and terror, and triumph. - Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, 1852

• At that moment the Master of Horse suddenly left the Duke and turned toward the stables. "Busk yourselves for the road, fair sirs," he called, as he passed. "We march after matins to-morrow. - Beatrix of Clare, by John Reed Scott

Sources: Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

effulgent

ef•ful•gent (ih-FUHL-juhnt, ih-FOOL-)  adj

Definition:
shining brilliantly; radiant

effulgence noun;  effulgently adverb

Origin:
1667; back formation from effulgence, or else from L. effulgentem (nom. effulgens), prp. of effulgere, from ex "out" + fulgere "to shine", from PIE *bhleg- "to shine, flash," from base *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn"

Related:
Synonyms: glowing, luminous, bright, brilliant, incandescent, lambent, lucent, lustrous, radiant, resplendent, shining, splendid, fulgent
Related Words: fulminate, fulgent, refulgent

Sentence Examples:
• Happily the Earl had been in Bursley all day, and had dressed at the Conservative Club; and his lordship had ordered that the programme of dances should be begun. Denry learned this as soon as he emerged, effulgent, from the gentlemen's cloak-room into the broad red-carpeted corridor which runs from end to end of the ground-floor of the Town Hall. - The Card, A Story Of Adventure In The Five Towns, Arnold Bennett

• Except for the faintest tinge of olive, her cheeks were colorless, yet they spoke of perfect health, and shone with that same pale, effulgent glow, like the reflection of a late sun. - The Net, Rex Beach

• And beholding him slain by the thunderbolt, and lying down huge as a hill, the chief of the celestials found no peace, and felt as if scorched by the effulgent appearance of the dead; for though slain, he had a blazing and effulgent appearance and looked like one alive. - The Mahaharata, Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

Sources: WordSmith, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

caduceus

ca•du•ce•us (kuh-DOO-see-uhs, -shuhs)  n

Definition:
1. the staff carried by Mercury as messenger of the gods (Classical Mythology)
2. an emblem of the medical profession and as the insignia of the U.S. Army Medical Corps
caducei plural;  caducean adjective

Origin:
1577; from L. caduceus, alteration of Doric Gk. karykeion "herald's staff," from karyx (gen. karykos) "a herald," from PIE *karu-, from base *kar- "to praise loudly"

Sentence Examples:
• At an examination the President sits at the end of the table with his back to the fireplace, the Registrar (Dr. Liveing) opposite, and the Censors on either side. In front of the President is a cushion with the Caduceus, the Mace, and the Golden Cane. - Personal Reminiscences of Sir Andrew Clark, E H Pitcairn

• He woke again, fitfully, and it would be daylight and he could see the yellow sky through an open window or it would be night and the wall-lights would be on. There would always be somebody with him. Nikkolay's wife, Dame Cecelia; Rovard Grauffis; Lady Lavina Karvall—he must have slept a long time, for she was so much older than he remembered—and her brother, Burt Sandrasan. And a woman with dark hair, in a white smock with a gold caduceus on her breast. - Space Viking, Henry Beam Piper

• My companions laughed, but I plucked up my courage and did not hesitate, but went on and examined the entire wall. There was a scene in a slave market, the tablets hanging from the slaves' necks, and Trimalchio himself, wearing his hair long, holding a caduceus in his hand, entering Rome, led by the hand of Minerva. - The Satyricon, Petronius Arbiter

Why This Word:

Caduceus, staff carried by Hermes, the messenger of the gods, as a symbol of peace. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans it became the badge of heralds and ambassadors, signifying their inviolability. Originally the caduceus was a rod or olive branch ending in two shoots and decorated with garlands or ribbons. Later the garlands were interpreted as two snakes entwined in opposite directions with their heads facing; and a pair of wings, in token of Hermes’ speed, was attached to the staff above the snakes. Its similarity to the staff of Asclepius the healer (a staff branched at the top and entwined by a single serpent) resulted in modern times in the adoption of the caduceus as a symbol of the physician and as the emblem of the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

Many "medical" organisations use a symbol of a short rod entwined by two snakes and topped by a pair of wings, which is actually the caduceus or magic wand of the Greek god Hermes (Roman Mercury), messenger of the gods, inventor of (magical) incantations, conductor of the dead and protector of merchants and thieves. It is derived from the Greek karykeion = "herald's staff", itself based on the word "eruko" meaning restrain, control.

It is interesting to see that most of organisations using this symbol are generally either commercial or military (or American). New Zealand examples include drug and pharmaceutical companies. A study by Friedlander confirms this impression.

The link between the caduceus of Hermes (Mercury) and medicine seems to have arisen by the seventh century A.D., when Hermes had come to be linked with alchemy. Alchemists were referred to as the sons of Hermes, as Hermetists or Hermeticists and as "practitioners of the hermetic arts". There are clear occult associations with the caduceus.

The caduceus was the magic staff of Hermes (Mercury), the god of commerce, eloquence, invention, travel and theft, and so was a symbol of heralds and commerce, not medicine. The words caduity & caducous imply temporality, perishableness and senility, while the medical profession espouses renewal, vitality and health.

Professional and patient centred organisations ... use the "correct" and traditional symbol of medicine, the staff of Asclepius with a single serpent encircling a staff, classically a rough-hewn knotty tree limb. Asclepius (an ancient greek physician deified as the god of medicine) is traditionally depicted as a bearded man wearing a robe that leaves his chest uncovered and holding a staff with his sacred single serpent coiled around it, (example right) symbolizing renewal of youth as the serpent casts off its skin. The single serpent staff also appears on a Sumerian vase of c. 2000 B.C. representing the healing god Ningishita, the prototype of the Greek Asklepios.

Staff of Asclepius

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

arriviste

arr•i•viste (ar-ee-VEEST)  n

Definition:
1. a person who has recently attained high position or great power but not general acceptance or respect; an upstart
2. a social climber; a bounder



Origin:

1901, from Fr. arriviste, from arriver "to arrive"

Related:
Synonyms: parvenu, vulgarian, bounder, upstart
Related Words: arrival

Sentence Examples:
• Imelda Marcos' rise from flats to Ferragamos is related with surprising sympathy. An arriviste in a city of snobbish aristocrats, Imelda struggled to fit in, fell into depression and then re-created herself, sometimes pathetically, in her brilliant husband's image. - Time, 1989

• What these people needed was a couple who could, like the de la Rentas, traffic in the arts and government as well as commerce and, in the process, lift their arriviste peers even as they elevated themselves. But which man was dynamic enough for that? And where was the woman that accomplished? - New York Magazine, 1986

• Ulick laid down the paper. Easter was surely on the road to victory. Duels, elopements, scandals, royal favours, Good Heavens! how that girl is going straight to her goal. She is an arriviste, but all women are arrivistes. - Painted veils, James Huneker

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

gramineous

gra•min•e•ous (gruh-MIN-ee-uhs)  adj

Definition:
1. of, relating to, or characteristic of grasses
2. of or belonging to the grass family (Gramineae)
gramineousness noun; graminaceous adjective

Origin:
1650s, from L. gramineus  "of grass, grassy," from gramen "grass"

Related:
Synonyms: grassy
Related Words: graminivorous: grass eater

Sentence Examples:
• Sugar itself does not exist in gramineous substances; they only contain its elements, or first principles, which produce it. - The Art of Making Whiskey, Anthony Boucherie

• In this connection the action of plant-roots in permitting a more abundant access of air to the lower layers of the soil, and thus promoting nitrification, is worth noticing. This has been observed in the case of different crops. Thus the action of nitrification has been found to be more marked in the lower layers of a soil on which a leguminous crop was growing than on that on which a gramineous. - Manures and the principles of manuring, Charles Morton Aikman

• The demands for porterage were so exorbitant next morning, that we set out on foot under the guidance of Tom Peter. We passed southwards over large tracts of bush and gramineous plants, with patches of small plantations, manioc and thur; and settlements girt by calabash-trees, cocoas, palmyra and oil palms. - Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo, Richard F. Burton

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

strepitant

strep•i•tant (STREP-i-tant)  adj
also strepitous (strep-i-tuhs)


Definition:
noisy; boisterous
Origin:
from Latin strepitantem, present participle of strepitare, from strepere "to make a noise"from PIE *strep-

Related:
Synonyms: noisy, blusterous, boisterous, booming, cacophonous, clamorous, clangorous, obstreperous, rambunctious, riotous, rowdy, tumultous/tumultuous, turbulent
Related Words: obstreperous, streperous

Sentence Examples:
• Hardly, however, has he fairly started his first daydream when the snappish ``ting'' of a bellkin recalls him to realities. By comes the bicyclist: dusty, sweating, a piteous thing to look upon. But the irritation of the strepitant metal has jarred the Loafer's always exquisite nerves: he is fain to climb a gate and make his way towards solitude and the breezy downs.- Pagan Papers, Kenneth Grahame

• The second (Allegro) melody grows to a high point of pathos,--nay, anguish, followed later by buoyant, strepitant, dancing delight, with the melting answer, in the latest melody. - Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies, Philip H. Goepp

•   One is incisive, corrosive--
      Two retorts, nettled, curt, crepitant--
    Three makes rejoinder, expansive, explosive--
      Four overbears them all, strident and strepitant--
    Five ... O Danaides, O Sieve!
- Early Reviews of English Poets, John Louis Haney

Sources: WordSmith

Word-E: A Word-A-Day