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Word and Quote of the Day (Feb 14, 2008)

(2008-01-27 22:21:23) 下一个

***** Feb 22, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

foundling

Definition:(noun) A deserted or abandoned child of unknown parentage.
Synonyms:abandoned infant
Usage:No one knew why an envelope containing images of a mountainous landscape had been tucked in the folds of the foundling's blanket.


Quote of the Day
We forge the chains we wear in life.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)






***** Feb 21, 2008 *****


Word of the Day

prejudicious

Definition:(adjective) Causing harm or injury.
Synonyms:damaging, detrimental, prejudicial
Usage:The reporter's coverage resulted in prejudicious publicity for the defendant.


Quote of the Day
The aphorism "Whatever is, is right," would be as final as it is lazy, did it not include the troublesome consequence that nothing that ever was, was wrong.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)




***** Feb 19, 2008 *****


Word of the Day

ninepin

Definition:(noun) A wooden pin used in the game of ninepins.
Synonyms:skittle, skittle pin
Usage:He threw the ball so hard that it knocked the ninepin into the neighbor's yard.


Quote of the Day
It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humor.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)




***** Feb 15, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

portent

Definition:(noun) An indication of something important or calamitous about to occur.
Synonyms:omen, prognostic, prognostication, presage, prodigy
Usage:The soldier looked to the sky for a portent and was gripped with fear when he read his future in the clouds.


Quote of the Day
The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.
Gilbert Chesterton
(1874-1936)
Quote of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary





***** Feb 14, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

trawler

Definition:(noun) A fishing boat that uses a trawl net or dragnet to catch fish.
Synonyms:dragger
Usage:The fisherman boarded the trawler at four in the morning.


Quote of the Day
Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded.
Virginia Woolf
(1882-1941)





***** Feb 13, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

panpipe

Definition:(noun) A primitive wind instrument consisting of several parallel pipes bound together.
Synonyms:syrinx, pandean pipe
Usage:When his parents refused to buy him an expensive instrument, the industrious ten-year-old crafted a panpipe out of string and some pieces of old pipe.


Quote of the Day
Every baby born into the world is a finer one than the last.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)




***** Feb 12, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

surfactant

Definition:(noun) A chemical agent capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved.
Synonyms:wetting agent, surface-active agent, wetter
Usage:She ordered a new pair of glasses and had the lenses coated with a surfactant film that would act as an anti-fogging agent.


Quote of the Day
In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)




***** Feb 11, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

platitude

Definition:(noun) A trite or banal remark or statement, especially one expressed as if it were original or significant.
Synonyms:banality, cliche, commonplace, bromide
Usage:A trite platitude about his not caring to lose her was on his lips, but he refrained from uttering it.


Quote of the Day
Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.
Gilbert Chesterton
(1874-1936)






***** Feb 10, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

incantation

Definition:(noun) A ritual recitation of words or sounds believed to have a magical effect.
Synonyms:conjuration
Usage:Hagar, the witch, chanted an awful incantation over her kettleful of simmering toads, with weird effect.


Quote of the Day
Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.
Gilbert Chesterton
(1874-1936)




***** Feb 09, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

patella

Definition:(noun) A flat triangular bone located at the front of the knee joint.
Synonyms:kneecap, kneepan
Usage:Having learned his lesson, the rollerblader wore kneepads to protect his patellae from further injury.
Word of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary


Quote of the Day
Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)







***** Feb 08, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

campanile

Definition:(noun) A bell tower, especially one near but not attached to a church or other public building.
Synonyms:belfry
Usage:The architect intended the Tower of Pisa to stand straight and tall, but the marble campanile's foundation was poorly laid, and it soon began to lean.


Quote of the Day
The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.
Rene Descartes
(1596-1650)





***** Feb 07, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

conflux

Definition:(noun) A flowing together.
Synonyms:merging, confluence
Usage:There was a conflux of emotions and thoughts in him.


Quote of the Day
Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.
Gilbert Chesterton
(1874-1936)




***** Feb 06, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

preclude

Definition:(verb) Keep from happening or arising; make impossible.
Synonyms:foreclose, forestall, prevent, forbid
Usage:Modesty precludes me from accepting the honor.


Quote of the Day
Happiness is the perpetual possession of being well deceived.
Jonathan Swift
(1667-1745)





***** Feb 05, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

quaggy

Definition:(adjective) Resembling a marsh; soggy.
Synonyms:boggy, marshy, miry, mucky, muddy, sloughy, swampy
Usage:The ground near the lake was wet and quaggy underfoot.


Quote of the Day
The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear.
Daniel Defoe
(1660-1731)




***** Feb 04, 2008 *****
 
Word of the Day

musette

Definition:(noun) A small French bagpipe operated with a bellows and having a soft sound.
Synonyms:shepherd's pipe
Usage:The young man was adept at the musette and would play it during celebrations.


Quote of the Day
Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.
Gilbert Chesterton
(1874-1936)





***** Feb 03, 2008 *****


Word of the Day

worriment

Definition:(noun) A difficulty that causes anxiety.
Synonyms:troublesomeness, inconvenience
Usage:To him, everything was a worriment, and his anxiety increased every day.


Quote of the Day
Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)



***** Feb 02, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

prosody

Definition:(noun) The study of the metrical structure of verse.
Synonyms:metrics
Usage:He was a master of meter, and contributed certain modifications to the laws of Chinese prosody which exist to the present day.


Quote of the Day
I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and reasonably applied, but to be forever discharging them, right or wrong, hit or miss, renders conversation insipid and vulgar.
Miguel de Cervantes
(1547-1616)



***** Feb 01, 2008 *****
 
Word of the Day

sporty

Definition:(adjective) Marked by conspicuous display.
Synonyms:flashy, gaudy, jazzy, showy
Usage:The Thompsons thought it inappropriate that their newly widowed neighbor wore such a sporty outfit to her husband's funeral.


Quote of the Day
I ransack public libraries, and find them full of sunk treasure.
Virginia Woolf
(1882-1941)




***** Jan 31, 2008 *****
 
Word of the Day

wraith

Definition:(noun) Something shadowy and insubstantial.
Synonyms:ghost, specter, spook, shade
Usage:He refused to venture near cemeteries, fearing he'd encounter wraiths, ghosts, and apparitions of all kinds.


Quote of the Day
Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.
Rene Descartes
(1596-1650)





***** Jan 30, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

brachypterous

Definition:(adjective) Having very short or rudimentary wings, as certain insects.
Synonyms:short-winged
Usage:Some brachypterous insects evade predators by jumping short distances.


Quote of the Day
Sleep is the best cure for waking troubles.
Miguel de Cervantes
(1547-1616)



***** Jan 29, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

sepulcher

Definition:(noun) A chamber that is used as a grave.
Synonyms:burial chamber, sepulture
Usage:The archaeologists opened the sepulcher expecting to find ancient artifacts, but the burial chamber turned out to be completely empty.


Quote of the Day
If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.
Virginia Woolf
(1882-1941)



***** Jan 28, 2008 *****

Word of the Day

rampart

Definition:(noun) A fortification consisting of an embankment, often with a parapet built on top.
Synonyms:bulwark, wall
Usage:They stormed the ramparts of the city with ladders and catapults.



Quote of the Day
Rome took all the vanity out of me; for after seeing the wonders there, I felt too insignificant to live, and gave up all my foolish hopes in despair.
Louisa May Alcott
(1832-1888)
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