Word of the day

Tribology (noun)

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

phantasmal (adj)

1. Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“something seen but having no physical reality”); imaginary, unreal.
2. Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantom (“apparition or ghost”); ghostly, spectral.
3. Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“perception or vision of a living or dead person who is not physically present, often through telepathy”).

Bête noire (noun)

Someone or something that is unbearable and so particularly avoided or disliked; the bane of someone's existence; an object of aversion; an anathema.

psychrosensitive (adj)

1. Sensitive to the cold.

Cratedigger (noun)

1. A person who habitually looks through crates of vinyl records at music shops, especially in pursuit of interesting or rare records.

eoan (adj)

1. Of, like or pertaining to dawn.
2. Relating to the east; eastern.

Hydrometeorology (noun)

1. The branch of meteorology that studies the occurrence, movement and changes of state of water in the atmosphere.

Xenolith (noun)

1. Fragment of extraneous rock embedded in magma or another rock.

Jollyboat

1. A type of ship's boat of the 17th to 19th centuries, used mainly to ferry personnel to and from the ship.

Trefoil (noun)

1. Any of several plants of the pea family, having compound, trifoliate leaves; especially one of the genus Trifolium.
2. A symbol having the shape of such leaves, especially when used as an architectural ornament.
3. Ellipsis of trefoil knot.

Phorometer (noun)

1. A device for examining the equilibrium of the ocular muscles.

Evanition (noun)

1. Disappearance; vanishment.

Horometry (noun)

The art or practice of measuring time by hours and subordinate divisions.

klendusic (adj)

1. Able to withstand disease due to protective mechanism.

Dedans (noun)

1. A division, at one end of a tennis court, for spectators.

Jnana (noun, Sanskrit)

1. Knowledge, as acquired through meditation, that one's self (atman) is identical with Ultimate Reality Brahman.
2. Pure awareness that is free of conceptual encumbrances.

Lagan

1. Goods or materials found or left on the sea floor, attached to a floating marker that indicates ownership.

Pseudolatry (noun)

1. False worship.

Enantiodromia (noun)

1. The principle whereby the superabundance of one force inevitably produces its opposite, as with physical equilibrium.

Sconce (noun)

1. A small protective fortification or earthwork.
2. A fixture for a light, which holds it and provides a screen against wind or against a naked flame or lightbulb.
3. A candlestick (holder for a candle, especially a circular tube, with a brim, into which a candle is inserted), either with a handle for carrying, or with a bracket for attaching to a wall.

Querquedule (noun)

1. A pin-tail duck; a teal.

Palette (noun)

1. A thin board on which a painter lays and mixes colors.
2. The range of colors in a given work or item or body of work.
3. The range of tones or tone colors in a given musical composition or performance.
4. A set of makeup including a variety of colors, often packaged together in a tray.
5. A visual selection of colors, tools, commands, etc.
6. A plate of armor covering the points of junction at the bend of the shoulders and elbows.
7. A plate against which a person presses their chest to give force to a hand-operated drill.
8. The tincture palettes used for coloring flags and coats of arms.

velary (adj)

Relating to a curve representing the motion of a sail blown by the wind.

Curia (noun)

1. Any of the subdivisions of a tribe in ancient Rome.
2. The Roman senate during the republic.
3. Any of several medieval councils or courts of justice.

embolden (verb)

1. To render (someone) bolder or more courageous; to encourage, to hearten.
2. To format (text) in boldface.

Syrinx (noun)

1. A set of panpipes.
2. Chiefly in the plural: a narrow channel cut in rock, especially in Ancient Egyptian burial chambers.
3. Any of several abnormal tube-shaped structures in the body, especially a rare, fluid-filled neuroglial cavity in the brain stem or within the spinal cord.
4. The voice organ in birds, located at or near where the trachea and the bronchi join.