abracadabra

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“
Hardly a day goes by without some abracadabra or hocus pocus announcement.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A magical charm or incantation having the power to ward off disease or disaster.
  2. noun Foolish or unintelligible talk.
  3. Word History
    "Abracadabra,” says the magician, unaware that at one time the thing to do with the word was wear it, not say it. Abracadabra was a magic word, the letters of which were arranged in an inverted pyramid and worn as an amulet around the neck to protect the wearer against disease or trouble. One fewer letter appeared in each line of the pyramid, until only a remained to form the vertex of the triangle. As the letters disappeared, so supposedly did the disease or trouble. While magicians still use abracadabra in their performances, the word itself has acquired another sense, "foolish or unintelligible talk.”

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Stefan dug the eco-fresh beauty of this abracadabra: he'd transformed a waste-disposal mess into a post-Einsteinian theory-incubator Stefan had earned his programming skills the hard way: years of labor in the machine-buzzing dungeons of Hollywood. —  Asimov'sSF,August2007
  • The brand name is meant to sound like some sort of magical incantation (think abracadabra), but the real enchantment lies in the insanely colorful palettes and wickedly low prices. —  TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends
  • No abracadabra with fuel, tyres or team tactics anymore. —  Motorsport.com: news
  • Breaks a date one weekend, won't return my calls the next week-abracadabra. —  VQR
  • I am beginning to wonder if anyone ever reads this stuff .... abracadabra, horsefeathers, ice cream scoop! —  Meet Me at HOT or NOT
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Late Latin, magical formula.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. L.; occurring first in a poem (Præcepta de Medicina) by Q. Serenus Sammonicus, in the second century; mere jargon. Cf. abracalam.
 

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/æbrəkəˈdæbrə/
by American Heritage

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