Word of the Day

Definition: (adjective) Demanding great effort or labor; difficult.
Synonyms: backbreaking, grueling, laborious, toilsome, punishing, hard, heavy.
Usage: The roofer's work was so arduous that he was forced to take numerous medications to relieve the pain in his back.
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Definition: (adjective) Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence.
Synonyms: unorthodox, irregular.
Usage: He was a maverick politician and refused to align himself with any of the established parties.

Definition: (noun) A pleasant and affable disposition.
Synonyms: affability, affableness, amiableness, geniality, amiability.
Usage: The good humor and bonhomie called up by this last evening amongst his old friends had disappeared.

Definition: (noun) A nest of ants.
Synonyms: anthill.
Usage: Hours after accidentally stepping on a formicary, she was still picking stray ants off of her jeans.

Definition: (noun) A writing table; a desk.
Synonyms: secretaire, writing table, secretary.
Usage: In the large shining mahogany escritoire Mr. Osborne had a drawer especially devoted to his son's affairs and papers.

Definition: (adjective) Of or relating to winter.
Synonyms: brumal, hiemal.
Usage: Our teacher described the first activities of bears as they emerge from hibernal sleep.

Definition: (noun) A small hammer with a rubber head used in percussive examinations of the chest and in testing reflexes.
Synonyms: percussor, plessor.
Usage: When the doctor tapped my knee with the plexor, my reflex was so strong that I almost kicked him in the head!

Definition: (adjective) Extremely desirous.
Synonyms: hungry, thirsty.
Usage: The young, enthusiastic student was athirst for knowledge.

Definition: (noun) Land with a soft muddy surface.
Synonyms: mire, morass, quag, slack.
Usage: We had some difficulty in reaching the point, owing to the intolerably bad paths; for everywhere in the shade the ground soon becomes a perfect quagmire.

Definition: (noun) A satire or lampoon, especially one that ridicules a specific person, traditionally written and posted in a public place.
Synonyms: parody, put-on, sendup, spoof, charade, lampoon, mockery, burlesque, travesty, takeoff.
Usage: The corrupt politician was a popular target of the pasquinades that were posted all over the city.

Definition: (noun) A grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods.
Synonyms: chela, nipper, claw.
Usage: The front pair of legs terminate in very strong and heavy pincers.

Definition: (noun) A split or opening in an organ or part.
Synonyms: crack, crevice, fissure, cleft.
Usage: The surgeon explained that the stitches he had used to sew the scissure shut would dissolve in a few weeks.

Definition: (adjective) Marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed.
Synonyms: furtive, stealthy, sneaky.
Usage: She stole a surreptitious glance at him, but he, too, seemed to have been caught up by Rose's gay, good humor.

Definition: (noun) A metal ring or cap placed around a pole or shaft for reinforcement or to prevent splitting.
Synonyms: collet.
Usage: The walking stick was quite old, and the large brass ferrule at its tip was worn down and dented.

Definition: (noun) A structure in the form of a network, especially of nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatics.
Synonyms: rete.
Usage: The bullet missed his cardiac plexus by an inch, leaving all the nerves intact.

Definition: (adjective) Marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm.
Synonyms: dispirited.
Usage: A subtle change had transformed her from the listless woman he had known into a being who, for the moment, seemed palpitant with the forces of life.

Definition: (noun) A monster able to change appearance from human to wolf.
Synonyms: werewolf, wolfman, loup-garou.
Usage: She thought the novel about the lycanthrope would be silly, but the sad tale about the werewolf's struggles to regain control of his life moved her to tears.

Definition: (noun) Outer tissue of bark; a protective layer of dead cells.
Synonyms: cork.
Usage: Joe carefully harvested the phellem from the tree, excited at the prospect of using the buoyant material to make his very own toy boat.

Definition: (noun) A symptom consisting of the involuntary expulsion of air from the nose.
Synonyms: sneeze, sneezing.
Usage: John complained that every time he came to visit, my dusty carpet would send him into fits of sternutation.

Definition: (noun) Equipment, such as clothing, tools, or instruments, used for a specific purpose or task.
Synonyms: paraphernalia, gear.
Usage: He had half expected that she would drive up to the side door in a hansom, would wear a thick veil, and adopt the other appurtenances of a clandestine meeting.