Category: Today’s Word

Definition: (noun) A flat disk of metal ready for stamping as a coin; a coin blank. Synonyms: coin blank. Usage: Occasionally, a planchet will escape …

Definition: (noun) A thicket or grove of small trees or shrubs, especially one maintained by periodic cutting or pruning to encourage suckering, as in the …

noun: 1. The process of transferring a design from a specially prepared paper onto another surface. 2. A decal: a design on a specially prepared …

Definition: (noun) A complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice. Synonyms: …

verb tr., intr.: 1. To describe, define, or perform something in terms of itself. 2. To perform an operation by repeated application of a technique, …

Definition: (noun) A loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles. Synonyms: dust coat, smock, duster. Usage: He was an unshaven little man …

noun: One advocating the restoration of territory that earlier belonged to one’s country.

Definition: (noun) A fragment of incombustible matter left after a wood or coal or charcoal fire. Synonyms: clinker. Usage: Ella loved to read by the …

verb tr.: 1. To decorate a manuscript, book, etc., with colors, gold, silver, etc. 2. To paint in red, titles, headings, or important parts of …

Definition: (noun) A heated greenhouse for plants that require an even, relatively warm temperature. Synonyms: conservatory, indoor garden. Usage: When those young ladies left your …

noun: The genre that chronicles the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Definition: (noun) A mild contagious eruptive disease caused by a virus and capable of producing congenital defects in infants born to mothers infected during the …

Definition: (noun) A hard thickening of the skin (especially on the top or sides of the toes) caused by the pressure of ill-fitting shoes. Synonyms: …

Definition: (noun) A flat cake of thin batter fried on both sides on a griddle. Synonyms: flannel-cake, battercake, flapcake, hotcake, pancake, griddlecake. Usage: His flapjacks …

noun: An expedition, raid, or campaign.

Definition: (noun) A faint glowing spot in the sky, exactly opposite the position of the sun. Synonyms: counterglow. Usage: The gegenschein is so faint that …

noun: Any of various hares having long ears and very long hind legs. verb intr.: To move or begin to move very quickly. adjective: Moving …

Definition: (noun) A person from a foreign country; a foreigner. Synonyms: alien, foreigner, noncitizen. Usage: As long as the number of outlanders remained small, the …

adjective: 1. Of or relating to a snake. 2. Winding, twisting, or coiling. 3. Intricate; cunning; treacherous. verb intr.: To move or lie in a …

Definition: (noun) A collarless men's undergarment for the upper part of the body. Synonyms: undershirt, vest. Usage: Its owner had taken off his tunic, and …

noun: 1. Any of various small, thickset, short-tailed, furry rodents. 2. One who mindlessly conforms or follows, especially toward disaster.

Definition: (noun) A name of endearment; a pet name. Synonyms: pet name. Usage: "Billy" is a hypocorism for "William." Discuss

adjective: 1. Believing that people are motivated primarily by self-interest. 2. Behaving in a selfish manner, callously violating accepted standards. 3. Pessimistic; jaded; negative. 4. …

Definition: (noun) A long, usually hooded cloak or coat. Synonyms: hooded coat. Usage: The men wore matching black capotes with hoods that obscured their features, …

Definition: (noun) A heavy rain. Synonyms: pelter, soaker, torrent, waterspout, deluge, downpour. Usage: We enjoyed the lovely recliners on the ship's deck until a sudden …

Definition: (noun) An assortment or a medley; a conglomeration. Synonyms: hodgepodge, omnium-gatherum, melange, mingle-mangle, mishmash, oddments, odds and ends, ragbag. Usage: If the farrago of …

verb tr.: To make small or insignificant.

Definition: (noun) A method of representing a language or the sounds of language by written symbols; spelling. Synonyms: writing system. Usage: She was familiar with …

verb tr.: To wash out or extract, especially with a solvent.

Definition: (noun) A horizontal, usually underground stem that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Synonyms: rootstalk. Usage: It was not apparent that …

verb tr.: To tear off or to rip into pieces.

Definition: (noun) Any of the long stiff hairs that project from the snout or brow of most mammals, as the whiskers of a cat. Synonyms: …

adjective: Having the power to cleanse. noun: A cleansing medicine or preparation.

Definition: (noun) A humorous play on words. Synonyms: pun, punning, wordplay. Usage: His attempts at comedy usually flopped, especially when he recited his favorite paronomasia, …

Definition: (noun) An official emissary, especially an official representative of the pope. Synonyms: official emissary. Usage: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Caprara was the legate of Pope …

Definition: (noun) A feudal vassal or subject. Synonyms: feudatory, liege, vassal. Usage: The liegeman was expected to provide military support if his lord went to …

Definition: (noun) One who traitorously switches allegiance. Synonyms: apostate, deserter, ratter, recreant, renegade. Usage: He was a turncoat who betrayed his friends to curry favor …

noun: 1. A person; guy. 2. A wasp. 3. A compact, opaque quartz, typically in dull shades of red, yellow, and brown.

Definition: (noun) A pit for refuse or sewage. Synonyms: sump, sink, cesspool. Usage: The cesspit smelled foul, but without it all the refuse would have …

noun: One who is easily taken advantage of, by being deceived, unfairly blamed, or ridiculed.