WORD OF THE DAY

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

WORD.OF.THE.DAY..............................

hoi polloi \hoi-puh-LOI\, noun: The common people generally; the masses. Lizzie insisted that her children distinguish themselves from the hoi polloi by scrupulous honesty. -- Kate Buford, Burt Lancaster: An American Life The exchange of roles in "The Prince and the Pauper" suggests that a man of... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

WORD.OF.THE.DAY..........................

bucolic \byoo-KOL-ik\, adjective: 1. Relating to or typical of the countryside or its people; rustic. 2. Of or pertaining to the life and occupation of a shepherd; pastoral. 3. A pastoral poem, depicting rural affairs, and the life, manners, and occupation of shepherds. 4. A country person. What Ms.... Sign in to see full entry.

WORD.OF.THE.DAY......................................

vivify \VIV-uh-fy\, transitive verb: 1. To endue with life; to make alive; to animate. 2. To make more lively or intense. Can the writer isolate and vivify all in experience that most deeply engages our intellects and our hearts? -- Annie Dillard, "Write Till You Drop", New York Times, May 28, 1989... Sign in to see full entry.

WORD.OF.THE.DAY...........................

beau ideal \boh-ay-DEEL\, noun; plural beau ideals: A perfect or an idealized type or model. Their commentaries inspired generations of schoolboys to pen compositions in praise of the Spartan lad who flinched not as the fox gnawed his vitals, and shaped the American beau ideal of the "strong silent... Sign in to see full entry.

WORD.OF.THE.DAY.................................

raffish \RAF-ish\, adjective: 1. Characterized by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity, crudeness, or rowdiness; tawdry. 2. Marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness; rakish. The speaker was in his forties, an attractive-looking man with a black eye patch that gave him the raffish look... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

NAME.THE.TUNE..............................

impregnable \im-PREG-nuh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Not capable of being stormed or taken by assault; unconquerable; as, an impregnable fortress. 2. Difficult or impossible to overcome or refute successfully; beyond question or criticism; as, an impregnable argument. During this destruction the... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

WORD.OF.THE.DAY.............................

slaver \SLAV-uhr; SLAY-vuhr\, intransitive verb: 1. To slobber; to drool. 2. Saliva drooling from the mouth. The tiger was slavering. It was thirsty. Or maybe hungry. -- Eliseo Alberto, Caracol Beach Two ancient, lopsided wooden signs declared NO TRESPASSERS! and BEWARE OF GUARD DOGS! The latter... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, February 12, 2007

WORD.OF.THE.DAY...............................

crux \KRUHKS\, noun; plural cruxes, also cruces \KROO-seez\: 1. The basic, central, or critical point or feature. 2. Anything that is very puzzling or difficult to explain or solve. Ah, and now it was out of the bag, O'Kane thought, the crux of the matter. -- T. Coraghessan Boyle, Riven Rock The... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, February 9, 2007

WORD.OF.THE.DAY...............................

Pyrrhic victory \PIR-ik\, noun: A victory achieved at great or excessive cost; a ruinous victory. Technically it was a victory for the British, who attacked the patriot fortifications -- but a Pyrrhic victory if ever there was: out of 2,200 British soldiers 1,034 were killed or wounded, including... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

WORD.OF.THE.DAY.................................

roseate \ROH-zee-it; -ayt\, adjective: 1. Overly optimistic; bright or cheerful. 2. Resembling a rose especially in color. That roseate view was shattered when the North last week detained a South Korean housewife, on a Kumkang tour with her six-year-old son, on a bizarre pretext. -- Donald Kirk,... Sign in to see full entry.

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