Sibilance, Sibilant

March 10, 2011
    I found a couple new ones, closely related to each other.

SIBILANCE as a noun, is a hissing sound a person makes while speaking such as extending the s sound or extending the sh sound or any other hiss sounding noise. Using this word in a sentence, one might say "She used a sibilance when she told her baby 'Hush'."

SIBILANT as an adjective, describes a word that has been pronounced with an extended hissing noise. When used in a sentence, it could be worded "The child actor in the school play used a sibilant noise when he said 'Hiss' when pretending to make the sound of a snake."

Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Turbid

March 9, 2011
    Tripping my fingers through the dictionary today, this gem came to light:

TURBID as an adjective, is:

1) originally meant to describe liquids as being thick, opaque, cloudy and suspending matter in the liquid so that the liquid cannot be seen through clearly.

2) However, it can also be used figuratively to describe anything that is unclear, clouded or muddied.

In usage, it could be said "The plot of the movie was so turbid as to obscure the point of the movie."

Continue reading...

Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Canton

March 7, 2011
    Today's find is:

CANTON as a noun, has two meanings.

1)    a small subdivision of a country that is set aside for political or administrative purposes. This can be stated as "Washington D.C. is a canton of the United States."

2)    a square charge depicting a symbolic icon smaller than a quarter and positioned in the upper right corner (from the point of view of the person looking at it) of a coat of arms.

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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Sebaceous

February 23, 2011
    And the daily gem is:

SEBACEOUS as an adjective, means:

     of or relating to oil or fat

     of or relating to a sebaceous gland or its secretion

Used in a sentence, it could be stated "The secretions of the sebaceous glands need to be washed from the body every day."

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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Sabbath / Sabbatical Year

February 21, 2011
    My random find today is:

SABBATH as a noun, means a day of rest. Most christian religions accept the weekly day of rest as being observed on Sunday, the first day of the week. The Mosaic law, or the law as presented by Moses in biblical references, referred to the weekly sabbath as being required to be observed on the 7th day of the week. In addition to the weekly sabbath, biblical law also recognized 7 other sabbaths. These other sabbaths included The Day of Atonement, The Feast of Trumpe...
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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Peace Dividend

February 16, 2011
    Yes. I know it's been a few days. I've been busy. But today I'm back in the saddle and looking up words and phrases. Today's choice is:

PEACE DIVIDEND which as a noun, means a sum of public money that becomes available for other purposes when spending on defense is reduced. I believe in using this word, it's safe to say "The United States has not benefited from a peace dividend in my lifetime."

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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Fallacy

February 12, 2011
    Today's gem is:

FALLACY as a noun (pronouced fal-asee), means a mistaken belief. One could say "The old saying that the moon is made of cheese is based on a fallacy."

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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Leachate

February 11, 2011
    Today's dragnet through the dictionary found:

LEACHATE (pronounced lee-ch-ayt) as a noun, means water that has sifted though other materials that has gained microscropic particles of the materials it sifted through via that sifting process. It would be truthful to say "The process that forms caves can involve water leaching through the ground and carrying soluble minerals away thereby turning water into leachate."

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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Droit

February 10, 2011
    Today's dictionary selection is:

DROIT as a noun, means a legal right or something that is due to you. An example of it's usage could be phrased "I am taking this matter to court for consideration of my droit."

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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 

Dab Hand

February 8, 2011
    Here's a new one for me:

DAB HAND as a noun, is a person who is an expert at a particular activity. To use this as an example, I would be safe in saying that "While Tiger Woods is a dab hand at golf, he has proven himself to be very poor at maintaining his marriage."

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Posted by H. Carla Greene.

 
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