Word of the day

Tribology (noun)

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

Acid test (noun)

1. A rigorous test or appraisal of the quality or worth of something.
2. In the 1960s, a party based around the use and advocacy of the psychedelic drug LSD (known in slang as "acid").

Evil eye (noun)

1. A wicked look conveying dislike or envy that in many cultures is believed to be able to cause bad luck or injury; also, the ability to cause bad luck or injury through such a look, supposed to be possessed by some people.
2. A look conveying disapproval, envy, hostility, etc.

Volition (noun)

1. A conscious choice or decision.
2. The mental power or ability of choosing; the will.
3. A concept that distinguishes whether or not the subject or agent intended something.

Perihelion (noun)

1. The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, etc., where it is nearest to the Sun.
2. The highest point or state; the peak, zenith.

Email (noun)

1. messages distributed by electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network.

email (verb)

1. To send an email to (someone).

Homograph (noun)

1. A word that is spelled the same as another, but has a different meaning and usually a different etymology.

Parkour (noun)

1. An athletic discipline, in which practitioners traverse any environment in the most efficient way possible using their physical abilities.

scrumptious (adj)

1. Of food: delectable, delicious.
2. Of a person or thing: excellent, wonderful; also, very aesthetically pleasing or attractive; good enough to eat.
3. Fastidious, picky.
4. Very small; tiny.

esurient (adj)

1. Very greedy or hungry; ravenous.
2. Avid, eager.

echt (adj)

1. Proper, real, genuine, true to type.

blare (verb)

1. Often followed by out: of a device such as a loudspeaker or a radio: to produce (music, a sound, etc.) loudly and piercingly.
2. To express (ideas, words, etc.) loudly; to proclaim.
3. To make a loud sound, especially like a trumpet.
4. To make a lengthy sound, as of a person crying or an animal bellowing or roaring.

Blare (noun)

1. A loud sound.
2. Of color, light, or some other quality: dazzling, often garish, brilliance.
3. A lengthy sound, as of a person crying or an animal bellowing or roaring.

out of place (prepositional phrase)

1. Not in the proper arrangement or situation.
2. Inappropriate for the circumstances.

Oakum (noun)

1. Coarse fibres separated by hackling from flax or hemp when preparing the latter for spinning.
2. Fibres chiefly obtained by untwisting old rope, which are used to caulk or pack gaps between boards of wooden ships and joints in masonry and plumbing, and sometimes for dressing wounds.

Killing Jar (noun)

1. A sealable container used by entomologists to kill captured insects quickly and with minimum damage.
2. The Transformers ep 71, air date 29.09.1986. Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, Marissa Faireborn, and Wreck-Gar are captured by a Quintesson scientist for experiments, but are sucked into a more dangerous problem—a black hole.
3. The Transformers: Punishment #4. June 2014 IDW Publishing. The new suspects: the Dinobots.

Chiasmus (noun)

1. An inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases.

Radium (noun)

1. The chemical element (symbol Ra) with an atomic number of 88. It is a soft, shiny and silvery radioactive alkaline earth metal.
2. A type of cloth woven from silk or synthetic yarn, often with a shiny appearance.

Grimoire (noun)

1. A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, or summoning spells.

Non-Biological Entity (noun)

1. A Non-Biological Entity (alternately Non-Biological Extraterrestrial), or N.B.E., is Sector Seven's designation for mysterious Transforming robots.

juxtapose (verb)

1. To place side by side, especially for comparison.

Midnight Sun (noun)

1. The phenomenon occurring when the Sun does not set but only approaches the horizon at midnight; it occurs near the summer solstice in the polar regions.

Hulk (noun)

1. A large ship used for transportation; (more generally) a large ship that is difficult to maneuver.
2. A non-functional but floating ship, usually stripped of equipment and rigging, and often put to other uses such as accommodation or storage.
3. A large structure with a dominating presence.
4. A big (and possibly clumsy) person.
5. An excessively muscled person.
6. A fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk (May 1962).

hulk (verb)

1. To reduce (a ship) to a non-functional hulk.
2. To temporarily house (goods, people, etc.) in such a hulk.
3. To move (a large, hulking body).
4. To be a hulk, that is, a large, hulking, and often imposing presence.
5. Of a (large) person: to act or move slowly and clumsily.

Metrology (noun)

1. The science of weights and measures or of measurement.
2. A system of weights and measures.

Philosopher's Wool (noun)

1. (alchemy) Zinc oxide (chemical formula ZnO) as a white flocculent powder.

hither and thither (adverb)

1. To here and to there, one place after another; in different directions.
2. (figuratively) In a disorderly manner.

hither and thither (verb)

1. To move here and then there; to move in different directions.

erstwhile (adj)

1. Former, previous.