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Wordnik is billions of words, 984,433,066 example sentences, 6,898,870 unique words, 232,414 comments, 179,268 tags, 121,454 pronunciations, 79,170 favorites and 1,044,091 words in 33,387 lists created by 84,667 Wordniks.
Wordnik is billions of words, 984,433,066 example sentences, 6,898,870 unique words, 232,414 comments, 179,268 tags, 121,454 pronunciations, 79,170 favorites and 1,044,091 words in 33,387 lists created by 84,667 Wordniks.
Latest Comments
ruzuzu commented on the list no-thanks-i-m-fle
Nice list!
May 16, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word meeth
Meeth
A Haiku by the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
A mark; a sign; a
landmark or boundary: as, meeths
and marches. See mead.
May 16, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word cloud-built
Clouds in your coffee? You're so vain.
May 16, 2012
bilby commented on the word sequel
No-one's sequelling me on Twitter :-)
May 16, 2012
bilby commented on the word hallux
Earlier comments were in relation to the Weirdnet definition:
"the first largest innermost toe".
May 16, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word sequel
You can't win if you don't play.
May 16, 2012
bilby commented on the word Pocatello
Very good fbh!
May 16, 2012
bilby commented on the word macrotis
The hallux wanting indeed! Who writes this stuff?
May 16, 2012
Prolagus commented on the word glottal stop
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2604
May 16, 2012
bilby commented on the word sequel
No-one's sequelling me on Twitter :-(
May 16, 2012
biocon commented on the word sequel
In addition, sequel means to follow (OED).
May 16, 2012
biocon commented on the word sequest
In addition, sequest means to follow (OED).
May 16, 2012
jodi commented on the word tweetline
tweetline, a Twitter timeline.
May 16, 2012
jodi commented on the word tweetline
tweetline, a Twitter timeline.
May 16, 2012
vitalamines commented on the list vitalamines
:)
May 16, 2012
gulyasrobi commented on the word EMCI
European Masters in Conference Interpreting (www.emcinterpreting.org)
May 16, 2012
gulyasrobi commented on the word karácsony
Christmas in Hungarian
May 16, 2012
gulyasrobi commented on the word HUTERM
HUTERM is a yahoo discussion group of Hungarian linguists and other experts involved in creating and using new Hungarian terms for concepts coined and evolving during EU policy making. HUTERM (www.huterm.com) is also a website dedicated to linguistic and lexicographic issues arising in this discussion.
May 16, 2012
gulyasrobi commented on the word ENVI
ENVI is the in-house abbreviation of the European Parliament's Environment and Consumer Protection committee. All committees in the EP have four-letter abbreviations.
May 16, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word hyperbolic discounting
"Individuals using hyperbolic discounting reveal a strong tendency to make choices that are inconsistent over time—they make choices today that their future self would prefer not to make, despite using the same reasoning. This dynamic inconsistency happens because the value of future rewards is much lower under hyperbolic discounting than under exponential discounting." (Wikipedia)
I found it here: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/10/27/procrastination
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Porvoo
The finishing touch of Finnish!
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Yamoussoukro
the best coasting ivory? coasting
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Mmabatho
Hmmmm does it come out in the wash?
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Dinxperlo
a fine ice wine!!
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Bergamo
Are you game?(gamo)??
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Cusco
Cuzco
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Cusco
Capital of Inca?
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Pocatello
synonomous with Marx (poke -and tell-oh)
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Bilbo
Does it remind you of someone?
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Tupelo
How can you top that?
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word macrotis
and what do you bandy-about?
bil of bil-becomes?
May 15, 2012
Loke commented on the word pantal
Recruitment methology.
May 15, 2012
Loke commented on the word pantal
Nickname for Pantanal, city in Brazil.
May 15, 2012
bilby commented on the word macrotis
A genus
of bandicoots
of the family Peramelidæ, having long pointed ears like those
of a rabbit, proportionally longer hind limbs than
the typical bandicoots,
the hallux wanting,
the tail long and hairy, and
the pouch opening
forward.
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Accho
Bless you!
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Ogbomosho
known for its kola nuts!
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Khajuraho
the brothers are monumental
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Jericho
It is the lowest of the low - yet high brow.
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Capital of Idaho
Boise
May 15, 2012
bilby commented on the word Gubbio
A gorgeous town in Umbria, Italy.
May 15, 2012
bilby commented on the list name-suggestions-for-ultra-compact-cars
There's a whole bunch of words that mean 'getting smaller' rather than small in an absolute sense. Perhaps they fit here.
"See the Finance Manager about a trade-in and you could be driving away in an all-new Ford Downsize today!"
May 15, 2012
bilby commented on the word ex situ
I can't imagine screaming that at the linesman.
May 15, 2012
bilby commented on the list towns-cities-that-should-have-been-marx-brothers
By the powers vested in me, I hereby...
May 15, 2012
bilby commented on the word cloud-built
At least my coffee's not cloud-built.
May 15, 2012
biocon commented on the word ex situ
Ex situ means off site.
May 15, 2012
mtc commented on the word cloud-built
And then there's Judy Collins' folk hit, Both Sides Now, which begins:
Bows and flows of angel hair
and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun they rain
and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
but clouds got in my way...
Hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8jGFu7ys64&feature=youtube_gdata_player
May 15, 2012
figyumum commented on the user figyumum
I was trying to find carnifer, as I just was reading Trollope and found it being used; only in the Compact Oxford could I approach a definition as the word itself isn't included. It does come from carniferous (meat-bearing) and obviously by extension was once used for the meat platter. A word that didn't seem to escape to the 20th century.
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the list infamously-mistranslated
*favorited*
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the list towns-cities-that-should-have-been-marx-brothers
I'll note that there's a town called Chico in California.
May 15, 2012
municate commented on the word techxodus
Describes a user-group leaving an obsolescing or unfavorable technology for an emerging or preferable one.
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the list the-study-of--ology
You might have fun looking through reesetee's no-ap-ology list.
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word mucormycosis
"A cluster of infections occurred in the wake of the 2011 Joplin tornado. As of July 19, a total of 18 suspected cases of cutaneous mucormycosis had been identified, of which 13 were confirmed. A confirmed case was defined as 1) necrotizing soft-tissue infection requiring antifungal treatment or surgical debridement in a person injured in the tornado, 2) with illness onset on or after May 22, and 3) positive fungal culture or histopathology and genetic sequencing consistent with a Mucormycete. No additional cases have been reported since June 17. Ten patients required admission to an intensive-care unit, and five died."
--http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mucormycosis&oldid=484947168
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word cloud-built
I always forget that Cloud Cuckoo Land is in The Birds instead of The Clouds.
May 15, 2012
rolig commented on the word cloud-built
Interesting, mtc. Baratynsky's "wondrous city" has a very different connotation than "Cloud Cuckoo Land", but the latter certainly belongs on my states of mind: from absurdistan to zion list.
Ruzuzu, Baratynsky and I go way back. I was introduced to him by Pushkin and Nabokov, with an added endorsement from Brodsky.
May 15, 2012
rolig commented on the word Cloud Cuckoo Land
Originally mentioned by a character in Aristophanes' play The Birds.
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word crease
Thank you, fbharjo. I've added it to my hence list, too.
May 15, 2012
ndoreck commented on the user ndoreck
its so great to get to doreck because am also called Doreck
May 15, 2012
mtc commented on the word cloud-built
Rolig, your poem may have been inspired by Cloud Cuckoo Land in Aristophanes' play, The Birds. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_cuckoo_land
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word cloud-built
That's lovely, rolig. How did you decide on Baratynsky?
May 15, 2012
mtc commented on the word altiloquent
I nominate "subiloquent" as the antonym of altiloquent.
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word flopuing
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A plover-like bird with four toes, a crest, and lustrous plumage, belonging to the genus Vanellus and family Charadriidæ. The best-known lapwing is V. cristatus, a common European bird, also called pe-wit, from its cry. The adult male has the upper parts iridescent with green, violet, and purplish tints, the under parts white, a large area on the breast and the top of the head and the long crest black, the tail-coverts chestnut or orange-brown, the tail black and white, the bill black, and the feet red. It is about as large as a pigeon. The eggs are esteemed a great luxury, and many are annually sent to the London markets from the marshy districts of England, under the name of plovers' eggs. There are other species. Also called flopuing.
GNU Webster's 1913
n. A small European bird of the Plover family (Vanellus cristatus, or Vanellus vanellus). It has long and broad wings, and is noted for its rapid, irregular fight, upwards, downwards, and in circles. Its back is coppery or greenish bronze. Its eggs are the “plover's eggs” of the London market, esteemed a delicacy. It is called also peewit, dastard plover, and wype. The gray lapwing is the Squatarola cinerea.
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word crease
To make a line or long thin
mark in,
as by folding,
doubling,
or indenting.
May 15, 2012
rolig commented on the word cloud-built
I love the Century Dictionary.
Btw, in my real life I am translating the poems of the Russian poet Yevgeny Baratynsky. Here is one that seems appropriate:
Now and then a wondrous city
from floating clouds will coalesce,
but the wind need only touch it,
and it’s gone without a trace.
Thus the momentary inventions
of poetic fantasy
vanish at the merest breath of
meaningless activity.
(1829)
Translated by Rawley Grau
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word snowcap
a New Granada hummer in its animate form.
May 15, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word cloud-built
That second definition is certainly poetry:
Cloud-built
A Haiku by the GNU Webster's 1913
Built of, or in, the
clouds; airy; unsubstantial;
imaginary.
May 15, 2012
goldowsky.barbara commented on the word cloud-built
I love that word! It's a poem all by itself.
May 15, 2012
deutschblog commented on the word kaisersmarrn
Kaiserschmarrn is also spelled Kaiserschmarren. Kaiserschmarren only denotes the dish and has no idiomatic meaning. The word Schmarren (alternative spelling: Schmarrn) is (a) short for Kaiserschmarren (b) has the idiomatic meaning "nonsense, rubbish"
May 15, 2012
allfieldsblank commented on the list onomatopoeia--1
(Wikipedia Link) Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias
May 15, 2012
xujung commented on the user xujung
outgoing
May 15, 2012
xujung commented on the user xujung
lifting
May 15, 2012
see_ne_wong commented on the user see_ne_wong
omg
May 15, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word cadilesker
kadilesker
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the list the-porn-birds
So... When I got one bird added, I couldn't help collecting some of the other ones I've stumbled upon:
pink-rumped rosefinch, pink-breasted lark, pink cockatoo, fire-capped tit, tit-babbler, fluffy-backed tit-babbler, rosy-faced lovebird, peach-faced lovebird, red-headed lovebird...
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word dog-toothed cat snake
Not a real chimera, but a snake, Boiga cynodon.
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word pink pussytoes
A plant, Antennaria microphylla. It is also known by other names, that all sound like characters from a fairy tale: littleleaf pussytoes, rosy pussytoes, pink pussytoes, small pussytoes, dwarf everlasting.
May 14, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word kumiss
I am not shaken or remiss (ruemiss)?!
May 14, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word wolfhound
originally wolfhounds now locolobos????
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word kissing number
"In geometry, a kissing number is defined as the number of non-overlapping unit spheres that touch another given unit sphere." (Wikipedia)
May 14, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word Zouave
adds a whole new meaning to drilling (for what?)
May 14, 2012
fbharjo commented on the word sherry
originally dry...... now sweet!
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word hedgehog space
Some Wikipedian poetry:
"In mathematics, a hedgehog space is a topological space, consisting of a set of spines joined at a point."
"A K-hedgehog space is sometimes called a hedgehog space of spininess K."
"Hedgehog spaces are examples of real trees."
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word blood agar
One type of blood agar is chocolate agar. Hm. Is there a list for words that sound like candy but are not?
May 14, 2012
Prolagus commented on the user chained_bear
http://www.savagechickens.com/2012/05/off-season.html
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word Ped-O-Jet
Had to list this after seeing this:
The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed):
Jet injector
Medicine in Star Trek
(I'm really in a spamming mode at the moment, hope you don't mind that I'm clogging the stream om "latest comments" completely...)
May 14, 2012
actung commented on the word umpty
Originally Morse code slang for 'dash.' Online Etymology Dictionary
May 14, 2012
Kimberlyn_Krause commented on the word tenSely
[tensely- to add tension; to make tense. kimberlyn_Krause
May 14, 2012
Kimberlyn_Krause commented on the word tenSely
Tensely means "with tension" or to add tension to something.
May 14, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word totally disagree
Well, it's no cat, but I agree it's still trending.
May 14, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word tappen
Apparently there's a place in the Hudson Valley called Tappen Hill. Sounds nice--wedding receptions, gala events, etc.
May 14, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
Well, the moment I see "specific" and "unexplained booms" in the same sentence, I immediately think of tappens.
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word mean anomaly
I know! I really prefer the eccentric anomaly.
May 14, 2012
milosrdenstvi commented on the word mean anomaly
Why can't the anomaly just be nice like everybody else?
May 14, 2012
tusseymountain commented on the word aperçu
For an example, see the last paragraph in this review: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/books/review/magic-hours-essays-by-tom-bissell.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=bookreviews
May 14, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word escort service in delhi,call girls in delhi,nightcallgirls in delhi,independent escorts in delhi,five star hotel escorts in delhi,delhi escorts,delhi call girls
Love the tags! (The non-spam ones, that is.) A very subtle way of fighting back.
May 14, 2012
bilby commented on the list film--1
honeywagon
May 14, 2012
bilby commented on the word honey bucket
See also honeywagon, or honey wagon.
May 14, 2012
bilby commented on the word Dubbo
A largish outback centre in New South Wales, Australia.
May 13, 2012
bilby commented on the word totally disagree
Anyone dispute that this is a trending word?
May 13, 2012
bilby commented on the word nixie tube
"First of all, what are nixie tubes? They were once commonly used for electronic displays, and consist of a gas-filled glass tube, inside of which are nestled ten cathodes, each one formed into a different numeral from 0 to 9. Those cathodes are stacked one on top of the other, any one of which can be made to glow orange when voltage is applied to it. If the selected number is at the bottom of the stack, you can actually see it shining through its unlit bunkmates."
- Ben Coxworth, gizmag.com, cited 11 May 2012.
May 13, 2012
Prolagus commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
Thanks thanks!
May 13, 2012