Wiktionary:Word of the day/Archive/2012/May

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(Recycled April)

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(Recycled May)

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When the words for a given month have all been replaced (or whatever) then subst: the sub-templates in on this page. That will preserve this month's archive, leaving the entries in the "Recycled" monthly pages to be (optionally) reused next year.

Word of the day
for May 1
May-day sweep n
  1. One of the brightly-clad chimney sweeps, carrying garlands and a blackened broom, who participated in May Day parades: "as jocund among us, as a May-day sweep" (Punch), "with a thing only fit for a May-day sweep on one’s head" (The Kafir at Home)
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Word of the day
for May 2
cucumiform adj
  1. Shaped like a cucumber; having the form of a cylinder tapered and rounded at the ends, and possibly curved
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Word of the day
for May 3
cogitable adj
  1. Thinkable, conceivable, able to be imagined
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Word of the day
for May 4
snootful n
  1. (informal) A noseful.
  2. (informal) A significant ingested quantity of an alcoholic beverage
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Word of the day
for May 5
cuckquean n
  1. A woman who has an unfaithful husband
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Word of the day
for May 6
softly softly adv
  1. (UK, idiomatic) In a very tactful, careful, or nondisruptive manner
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Word of the day
for May 7
becastled adj
  1. Fortified by or furnished with a castle or castles
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Word of the day
for May 8
adversity n
  1. (uncountable) The state of adverse conditions; state of misfortune or calamity.
  2. (countable) An event that is adverse; calamity
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Word of the day
for May 9
fuzzword n
  1. A term that is deliberately vague or euphemistic in meaning
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Word of the day
for May 10
cymotrichous adj
  1. (anthropology) Having wavy hair
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Word of the day
for May 11
atheophobia n
  1. Fear or hatred of atheism or atheists
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Word of the day
for May 12
deskfast n
  1. Breakfast eaten at work, particularly while sitting at a desk
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Word of the day
for May 13
mama bear n
  1. (slang) A woman, especially a mother, who is extremely protective of a child or children
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Word of the day
for May 14
sumptuous adj
  1. Magnificent, splendid, extremely good
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Word of the day
for May 15
plangent adj
  1. Having a loud, mournful sound
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Word of the day
for May 16
hue and cry n
  1. (historical) The public pursuit of a felon; accompanied by shouts to warn others to give chase.
  2. (by extension) A loud and persistent public clamour; especially one of protest or making some demand
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Word of the day
for May 17
morpheme n
  1. (linguistics) The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a meaning, such as "un-", "break", and "-able" in the word "unbreakable"
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Word of the day
for May 18
upend v
  1. (transitive) To end up; to set on end.
  2. To tip or turn over.
  3. To destroy, invalidate, overthrow, or defeat
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Word of the day
for May 19
front runner n
  1. (idiomatic) The most likely winners in a contest, election, etc
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Word of the day
for May 20
much of a muchness phrase
  1. (idiomatic) Of two or more things, having little difference of any significance between them
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Word of the day
for May 21
cloudburst n
  1. A sudden heavy rainstorm
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Word of the day
for May 22
sangfroid n
  1. Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a dangerous situation
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Word of the day
for May 23
thagomizer n
  1. (anatomy) An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various stegosaurs
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Word of the day
for May 24
shylock v
  1. (intransitive, US) To lend money at exorbitant rates of interest
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Word of the day
for May 25
masterly inactivity n
  1. (politics) A policy of deliberate inactivity
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Word of the day
for May 26
eyrie n
  1. A bird of prey's nest.
  2. Any high and remote but commanding place
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Word of the day
for May 27
antaphrodisiac adj
  1. Capable of reducing the sex drive
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Word of the day
for May 28
crown molding n
  1. (finish carpentry, interior decorating) A molding at the edge of a room between ceiling and wall
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Word of the day
for May 29
apothegm n
  1. A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim
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Word of the day
for May 30
have Van Gogh's ear for music v
  1. (humorous) To be tone-deaf
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Word of the day
for May 31
omnishambles n
  1. (UK, chiefly politics) A situation that is bad or mismanaged in every way
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