Word of the day

Tribology (noun)

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

Azoth (noun)

1. The first principle of metals, that is, mercury, which was formerly supposed to exist in all metals, and to be extractable from them.
2. The universal remedy of Paracelsus.

Thymoleptic (noun)

1. Any drug that modifies a patient's mood, but especially an antidepressant medication.

thymoleptic (adj)

1. That modifies (a patient's) mood.
2. Psychologically energizing.

Xylocarp (noun)

1. A hard woody fruit.

Triobolon (noun)

1. An ancient Greek coin worth 3 obols or ¹/₂ drachm.

frowsty (adj)

1. Of an atmosphere: not fresh; close, musty, stuffy; of an object: having a musty, stale odor.
2. Of a person: dull, slow; also, unkempt, untidy.

Acrasia (noun)

1. Lack of self-control; excess, intemperance; also, irregular or unruly behavior.

odontostomous (adj)

1. Having jaws that resemble teeth.

Whipjack (noun)

1. A beggar who pretends to be a sailor.

Xeric (noun)

1. Very dry, lacking humidity and water.
2. Adapted to live in a very dry habitat.
3. Peep (cry of a chick).
4. Shriek, scream.

nugatory (adj)

1. Trivial, trifling or of little importance.
2. Ineffective, invalid or futile.
3. Having no force, inoperative, ineffectual.
4. Removable from a computer program with safety, but harmless if retained.

Shambles (noun)

1. A scene of great disorder or ruin.
2. A great mess or clutter.
3. A scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation.
4. A slaughterhouse.
5. A butcher's shop.

leporine (adj)

1. of, like or pertaining to the hare.

Leporine (noun)

1. Synonym of Leporid (“any mammal of the family Leporidae: the hares and rabbits”).
2. A supposed hybrid between a hare and a rabbit, now known not to exist; a Leporide.

dilacerate (verb)

1. To rend asunder; to tear to pieces.

torsive (adj)

1. Relating to torsion.
2. Twisted spirally.

Geophyte (noun)

1. A perennial plant, for example the potato or daffodil, which in spring propagates from an underground organ such as a bulb, tuber, corm or rhizome.

heft (noun)

1. The feel of the weight of something; heaviness.
2. The force exerted by an object due to mavitation; weight.
3. Graveness, seriousness; mavity.
4. Importance, influence; weight.
5. The greater part of something; the bulk, the mass.
6. An act of lifting; a lift.
7. An act of heaving (lifting with difficulty); an instance of violent exertion or straining.

Zendik (noun)

1. Libertine, rogue.
2. One who practised heretical magic.

Yakhdan (noun)

1. Leather basket, box or trunk used for carrying ice on back of pack animal.

jink (noun)

1. A quick evasive turn.
2. A jack or knucklebone used in the game of the same name in the plural (possibly derived from the Scottish game high jinks).

jink (verb)

1. To make a quick evasive turn or turns to confuse pursuers, incoming fire, etc.
2. To cause a vehicle to make a quick evasive turn.
3. In the games of spoilfive and forty-five, to win the game by taking all five tricks; also, to attempt to win all five tricks, losing what has been already won if unsuccessful.
4. To elude; to cheat.

sigla (noun)

1. Abbreviations, symbols and signs.

velivolant (adj)

1. Flying with sails.
2. Passing under full sail.

Prior (noun)

1. A high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
2. In an abbey, the person ranking just after the abbot, appointed as his deputy; a prior claustral.
3. The head of a priory (“a monastery which is usually a branch of an abbey”), or some other minor or smaller monastery; a prior conventual.
4. The head friar of a house of friars.
5. The head of the Arrouaisian, Augustinian, and formerly Premonstratensian religious orders.
6. An honorary position held by a priest in some cathedrals.
7. A chief magistrate of the Republic of Florence (1115–1569) in what is now Italy.
8. The elected head of a guild of craftsmen or merchants in some countries in Europe and South America.
9. A person who is the earliest or most prominent in a field; the chief.
10. The head of a company.

prior (adv)

1. Chiefly followed by to: in advance, before, previously.

prior (adj)

1. Coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.
2. More important or significant.
3. of the probability of an event: determined without knowledge of the occurrence of other events that bear on it, before additional data is collected.

neuroid (adj)

1. Resembling a nerve or similar neural structure; nervelike.

detort (verb)

1. To turn from the original or plain meaning.
2. To pervert.
3. To wrest.

Messuage (noun)

1. Originally, a plot of land as the site for a dwelling house and its appurtenant interests; now, a dwelling house or residential building together with its outbuildings and assigned land.