vermiculate : DEFINITION: (adjective) Infested with or damaged (as if eaten) by worms. SYNONYMS: worm-eaten, wormy. USAGE: I returned from vacation to find my yard littered with vermiculate, rotting plums that had fallen from the tree while I was away. Discuss

bird’s-eye : DEFINITION: (adjective) As from an altitude or distance. SYNONYMS: panoramic. USAGE: Another pedestrian had entered from the other end…with an astrakhan collar to his coat on this warm night, and a black slouch hat that hid his features from my bird’s-eye view. Discuss

extrude : DEFINITION: (verb) Form or shape by forcing through an opening. SYNONYMS: squeeze out. USAGE: The pasta machine extruded the dough through a series of small holes, thus shaping it into spaghetti. Discuss

poseur : One who behaves in an affected manner to impress others.

roue : A debauched man, especially an elderly man from a wealthy or aristocratic family.

today’s gigantomachize : gigantomachize [fr. Gk gigantomachia, war of the giants against the gods] obs. : to rise in revolt against one’s betters

today’s paludal : paludal [fr. L. palus, swamp] having to do with, or produced by, swamps or marshes “The paludal countryside was one of the

contagion : DEFINITION: (noun) The communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people. SYNONYMS: infection. USAGE: Arobin caught the contagion of excitement which drew him to Edna like a magnet. Discuss

dilettante : noun: One who takes up an activity or interest in a superficial or casual way; adjective: Superficial; amateurish.

another test : bascule [F, see-saw] an apparatus or structure in which one end is counterbalanced by the other on the principle of the