Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2014 is: rathskeller • \RAHT-skel-er\  • noun : a usually basement tavern or restaurant Examples: Beneath the service club's new meeting hall is a rathskeller that is open for lunch and dinner. "Troy's Germania Hall remains open. The club serves dinner every Friday night in its rathskeller." - Jeff Wilkin, The Gazette (Schenectady, New York), Aug...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 9, 2014 is: stereotactic • \stair-ee-uh-TAK-tik\  • adjective : involving or used in a surgical technique for precisely directing the tip of a delicate instrument or beam of radiation in three planes using coordinates provided by medical imaging in order to reach a specific locus in the body Examples: "Once in the OR, Mario was given a local anesthet...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 8, 2014 is: culprit • \KUL-prit\  • noun 1 : one accused of or charged with a crime 2 : one guilty of a crime or a fault 3 : the source or cause of a problem Examples: After the empty warehouse burned down, an investigation determined faulty wiring to be the culprit. "Police searched a parking structure in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles Saturday fo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 7, 2014 is: tantamount • \TAN-tuh-mount\  • adjective : equivalent in value, significance, or effect Examples: The boss had told Morris that he was being reassigned to the shipping department, and he knew that it was tantamount to a demotion. "Mrs. Clinton declined an invitation to speak, organizers said. Democratic analysts said that was no surprise...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 6, 2014 is: disjunctive • \diss-JUNK-tiv\  • adjective 1 a : relating to, being, or forming a logical disjunction b : expressing an alternative or opposition between meanings of the words connected c : expressed by mutually exclusive alternatives joined by or 2 : marked by breaks or disunity Examples: The detective walked into the interrogation room...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 5, 2014 is: oleaginous • \oh-lee-AJ-uh-nus\  • adjective 1 : resembling or having the properties of oil : oily; also : containing or producing oil 2 : marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality Examples: Jim seems to mistake his own oleaginous demeanor for charm. "From swimsuits, evening gowns, and talent to spokesmodel abilities and han...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 4, 2014 is: bivouac • \BIV-uh-wak\  • verb 1 : to make a temporary encampment under little or no shelter 2 : to take shelter often temporarily 3 : to provide temporary quarters for Examples: The search party bivouacked under a nearby ledge until the storm passed. "Until Saturday, the virus had never entered the United States. But opposition to its im...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2014 is: El Niño • \el-NEEN-yoh\  • noun : an irregularly recurring flow of unusually warm surface waters from the Pacific Ocean toward and along the western coast of South America that prevents upwelling of nutrient-rich cold deep water and that disrupts typical regional and global weather patterns Examples: Representatives of the Pacific Island...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2014 is: repugn • \rih-PYOON\  • verb : to contend against : oppose Examples: Over 450 students signed the petition repugning the school board's decision to fire the popular teacher. "Still to come, bad blood between Bloom and Bieber. Will we ever know what happened when the movie star repugns the pop star?" - Lester Holt, NBC News Transcripts, Au...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 1, 2014 is: impregnable • \im-PREG-nuh-bul\  • adjective 1 : incapable of being taken by assault : unconquerable 2 : unassailable; also : impenetrable Examples: "The castle was built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was quite impregnable…." - Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897 "He is too generous in his assessment of Lee's disastrous...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 31, 2014 is: permutation • \per-myoo-TAY-shun\  • noun 1 : often major or fundamental change (as in character or condition) based primarily on rearrangement of existent elements; also : a form or variety resulting from such change 2 a : the act or process of changing the lineal order of an ordered set of objects b : an ordered arrangement of a set of ob...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 30, 2014 is: cap-a-pie • \kap-uh-PEE\  • adverb : from head to foot Examples: The birthday girl-dressed cap-a-pie as a princess, from tiara to sequined slippers-waited excitedly for her guests to arrive. "It's only in cartoons that crows have yellow beaks and feet. They are of one shade cap-a-pie, black as midnight and fleet of wing." - M. D. Harmon, Po...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2014 is: precocial • \prih-KOH-shul\  • adjective : capable of a high degree of independent activity from birth Examples: The mallard is a type of precocial bird that can often fly independently just 24 hours after hatching. "Hares are like deer, horses and cattle in the sense that their offspring are precocial. They still have multiple offspring pe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2014 is: pica • \PYE-kuh\  • noun : an abnormal desire to eat substances (as chalk or ashes) not normally eaten Examples: Some women suffer from pica during pregnancy. "Pica is an eating disorder that makes you want to nibble on substances with no nutritional value. Sufferers crave washing powder, cigarette ash, dog food, soil, chalk, ice and raw ri...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2014 is: fleer • \FLEER\  • noun : a word or look of derision or mockery Examples: When Adam suggested that the firm's partners do the work pro bono he half-expected to be hit with a collective fleer, but the others readily agreed. "He expressed himself, of course, with eccentric abandon-it would have been impossible for him to do otherwise; but he...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2014 is: suffrage • \SUF-rij\  • noun 1 : a vote given in deciding a disputed question or electing a person for an office or trust 2 : the right of voting; also : the exercise of such right Examples: On August 26, 1920-42 years after such an amendment had first been introduced in Congress-the Nineteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution be...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2014 is: operose • \AH-puh-rohss\  • adjective : tedious, wearisome Examples: The operose volume offers up considerably more verbiage than useful information. "But now competitors face an operose task: it is not enough that they know how to spell a tongue-twister, they should also know its meaning." - Economic Times, April 16, 2013 Did you know? "Op...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2014 is: dovecote • \DUV-koht\  • noun 1 : a small compartmented raised house or box for domestic pigeons 2 : a settled or harmonious group or organization Examples: "The Sultan of Oman has also been a significant contributor, paying for the magnificent dovecote made from English walnut at the end of the lime walk." - Steve Whysall, Vancouver Sun, J...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 23, 2014 is: purfle • \PER-ful\  • verb : to ornament the border or edges of Examples: The guitar maker used abalone shell to purfle the instrument. "She wore a silk dress purfled with gold, and they compared her beauty to the moon." - Nicholas Jubber, The Prester Quest, June 30, 2011 Did you know? Today we use "purfle" mostly in reference to setting a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 22, 2014 is: Davy Jones's Locker • \day-vee-johnz-LAH-ker\  • noun : the bottom of the ocean Examples: "We asked where the rest of the ship's company were; a gruff old fellow made answer, 'One boat's crew of 'em is gone to Davy Jones's locker: -went off after a whale, last cruise, and never come back agin.…'" - Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adve...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 21, 2014 is: ragamuffin • \RAG-uh-muf-in\  • noun : a ragged often disreputable person; especially : a poorly clothed often dirty child Examples: Tourists in the city were often surrounded by young ragamuffins begging to be allowed to do small services for an equally small donation. "Miller shows remarkable range in her portrayal of Rose, who transforms...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2014 is: flyblown • \FLY-blohn\  • adjective 1 a : not pure : tainted b : not bright and new : seedy c : trite, hackneyed 2 : infested with eggs or young larvae of a blowfly Examples: "This is a mighty simple movie, with its flyblown wisdom spelled out." - Pauline Kael, The New Yorker, November 2, 1987 "The landscape of 'The Rover' is an arid, flybl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 19, 2014 is: demesne • \dih-MAYN\  • noun 1 : legal possession of land as one’s own 2 a : the land attached to a mansion b : landed property : estate c : region, territory 3 : realm, domain Examples: Lewis and Clark were commissioned to explore the vast demesne of forests and plains that the United States acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. "Just as no...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 18, 2014 is: backstairs • \BAK-stairz\  • adjective : secret, furtive; also : sordid, scandalous Examples: The article accuses the influential Washington lobbyist of having been involved in a number of backstairs deals to limit regulation of financial institutions. "During the protracted balloting-it went four rounds before Jackson was declared the winn...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 17, 2014 is: crazy-quilt • \KRAY-zee-KWILT\  • adjective : resembling a patchwork quilt without a design : haphazard Examples: "No one questioned her comings and goings; her crazy-quilt schedule was attributed to familial and civic duties." - Toni Cade Bambara, Those Bones Are Not My Child, 1999 "The crazy quilt nature of the music Miles Davis made at t...