Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of portmanteau.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • There seems to be nothing that English speakers like as much as blended words also called portmanteaus.

    2011 in Words 2011

  • Quaintest of all these articles were the native "portmanteaus," that is to say, bundles of treasures rolled up in bark, wound round and round with string -- string made from human hair or from that of dingoes and opossums.

    Spinifex and Sand David Wynford Carnegie 1885

  • In these "portmanteaus" are found carved sticks, pieces of quartz, red ochre, feathers, and a number of odds and ends.

    Spinifex and Sand David Wynford Carnegie 1885

  • "portmanteaus" [Note at end of paragraph.] containing hair-string, feathers, red ochre, and other knick-knacks.

    Spinifex and Sand David Wynford Carnegie 1885

  • I guess I missed the day in school when they taught that portmanteaus are pejoritive per se.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Taking ObamaCare Challenges Seriously 2010

  • I guess I missed the day in school when they taught that portmanteaus are pejoritive per se.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Taking ObamaCare Challenges Seriously 2010

  • The narrative is hampered by impossibly leaden sentences "both officers realized they were not dealing with a military matter, and they were not quite comfortable dealing with it"; and it's more than a bit distracting when members of the president's cabinet decode military portmanteaus for the reader's benefit.

    The Tedium Is the Message Michael Moynihan 2011

  • I guess I missed the day in school when they taught that portmanteaus are pejoritive per se.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Taking ObamaCare Challenges Seriously 2010

  • I guess I missed the day in school when they taught that portmanteaus are pejoritive per se.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Taking ObamaCare Challenges Seriously 2010

  • It is, after all, the sportswriters 'job to come up with something good to call these guys, something that captures their personality and performance, and instead we get formulaic portmanteaus, and now, apparently, retread nicknames from the' 70s.

    Today in Local Sports Coverage: Mr. October, the Sequel to the Sequel 2009

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