Word of the day

Tribology (noun)

1. (physics, engineering) The science and technology of friction, lubrication, and wear.

Limbo (noun)

1. The place, thought to be on the edge of the bottomless pit of Hell, where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, specifically those of the saints who died before the advent of Jesus Christ (who occupy the limbo patrum or limbo of the patriarchs or fathers) and those of unbaptized infants (who occupy the limbo infantum or limbo of the infants); the place where each category of souls exists, regarded separately.
2. Chiefly preceded by in: any in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion which results in deadlock, delay, or some other unresolved status.
3. Jail, prison; (countable) a jail cell or lockup.
4. Synonym of Hades or Hell
5. Synonym of pawn (“the state of something being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge”)
6. A type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels.

limbo (verb)

1. To place (someone or something) in an in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion which results in deadlock, delay, or some other unresolved status.

virid (adj)

1. (literary, poetic) Green, verdant.

Virid (noun)

1. (literary, poetic, rare) A green color.

Harbinger (Noun)

1. A person or thing whose arrival foretells the coming of someone or something.
2. An American comic book series published by Valiant Comics about a group of teenage super-powered outcasts known as Harbingers. Harbinger initially featured writing and art by Jim Shooter and David Lapham. Harbinger #1 January 19 1992.

slingshot (verb)

1. To move in a manner resembling a slingshot.
2. (especially) To use the gravity of a moving planet to add momentum to a spacecraft.

Slingshot (noun)

1.  A Y-shaped stick with an elastic sling between the arms used for shooting small projectiles.
2. (pinball) A stationary, often triangular object that launches any ball that hits its longest side back at a high force, now usually located above the flipper and between it and the inlane, with one each for both lower flippers.
3. A sling bikini.
4. (powerlifting) An implement of a broad fabric worn around and connecting both bicipites brachii to support benching the most heavy weights.
5. A fictional character in the Transformers series. He is sometimes known as Quickslinger, not to be confused with the female Targetmaster partner.
   1985 — Slingshot, the Autobot Aerialbot from Generation 1.
   2014 — Slingshot, the Autobot from the Aligned continuity family.

polysemous (adj)

1. (linguistics) Having multiple meanings or interpretations.

myriad (adj)

1. Great in number; innumerable.

dissident (adj)

1. In a manner that disagrees; dissenting; discordant; different.

Padawan (noun)

1. An apprentice or student Jedi.
2. (by extension, humorous) Any apprentice or student.

Chuchotage (noun)

1. The interpretation or translation of speech in a whisper to a single person in proximity to other people.

Clarsach (noun)

1. (music) A small triangular wire-strung harp of Gaelic origin; a Celtic harp.

Zeitgeist (noun)

1. The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period.
2. A fictional character appearing in Marvel Comics created by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck and first appeared (as Everyman) in Captain America Vol.1 issue 267 (1982). Zeitgeist, formerly Everyman, was a former anti-hero turned serial killer.
3. A fictional character appearing in Marvel Comics created by Peter Milligan whose mutant ability allows him to spit acidic vomit. First appearance X-Force (Vol. 1) #116 (July, 2001).

Shangri-La (noun)

1. A place of complete bliss, delight, and peace, especially one seen as an escape from ordinary life; a paradise.

Atelier (noun)

1. A studio or workshop, especially for an artist, designer, or fashion house.

Squeezebox (noun)

1. (music, informal) Synonym of accordion or concertina.
2. Alternative form of squeeze box (“device for immobilizing an animal; box used by cavers for practising”).

Bokeh (noun)

1. (photography) A subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of an image projected by a camera lens.

Moiety (noun)

1. A half.
2. A share or portion, especially a smaller share.
3. (anthropology) Each descent group in a culture which is divided exactly into two descent groups.
4. (chemistry) A specific segment of a molecule.

emeritus (adj)

1. Retired, but retaining an honorific version of a previous title.

Emeritus (noun)

1. A person who is retired from active service or an occupation, especially one who retains an honorific version of a previous title.
2. An honorific version of a previous title.

sempiternal (adj)

1. Seemingly everlasting or eternal.

Marocain (noun)

1. A heavy crepe fabric of silk, wool, or both, having a cross-ribbed texture, used for apparel.

Caesura (noun)

1. A a pause or interruption in a poem, music, building or other work of art.
2. In Classical prosody, using two words to divide a metrical foot.

Phalanx (noun)

1. (historical, plural phalanxes) An ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.
2. (historical sociology) A Fourierite utopian community; a phalanstery.
3. (plural phalanxes) A large group of people, animals or things, compact or closely massed, or tightly knit and united in common purpose.
4. (anatomy, plural phalanges) One of the bones of the finger or toe.
5. A fictional alien race, in Marvel Comics, who were thought to be an offshoot of the Technarchy who first appeared in their full form in Uncanny X-Men #312 (May 1994).

Namesake (noun)

1. One who is named after another, or for whom another is named.
2. A person, place or thing having the same name as another.

Maxwellisation (noun)

1. (physics) The property of exhibiting a Maxwellian distribution (or Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution), especially as regards the speed of a particle.
2. (Britain, law) A process whereby a person criticized in an official inquiry is given an opportunity to read and respond to the criticisms before the report of the inquiry is published.

Epistemic (adj)

1. (philosophy) Of or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired.
2. (by extension, linguistics) Of or relating to how cognition or knowledge is expressed in language.
3. (philosophy) Of or relating to epistemology (“the branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge”); epistemologic or epistemological.

ASMRtist (noun)

1. (informal, neologism) A person who creates audiovisual material designed to induce an autonomous sensory meridian response.