words
austral
adj. - Belonging to the south, southern; also, influenced by the south wind, warm and moist.
eruct
v. - To void wind noisily from the stomach through the mouth.--To emit (fumes) by eructation.--Of a volcano.
fosse
n. - spec. A ditch constructed as a defensive barrier in front of or around a building, settlement, etc.; a moat encircling a fortified place.--A deep, wide-mouthed hollow or excavation; a hole, a pit. Also: a place of burial or sacrifice, a grave. rare and poet. or hist. in later use
civet
n. - A genus of carnivorous quadrupeds, yielding the secretion called by the same name. Specifically, the central African species, Viverra civetta, an animal ranking in size and appearance between the fox and the weasel. Often called more fully civet-cat.--A yellowish or brownish unctuous substance, having a strong musky smell, obtained from sacs or glands in the anal pouch of several animals of the Civet genus, especially of the African Civet-cat. It is used in perfumery.
marasmus
n. - Originally: any wasting disorder. Now: severe loss of body weight, spec. (in Med.) that caused in children by protein-energy malnutrition.
cf. marasme - ety. French marasme consumption (1538 in Middle French)
clonic
adj. - Med. Designating or relating a type of movement in which there is alternating contraction and relaxation of one or more muscles occurring in rapid succession, as in some types of epileptic seizure and certain other disorders; opposed to tonic.
cf. clonus - Med. A spasm or series of spasms of alternate muscular contraction and relaxation.
tonic
adj. - Physiol. and Pathol. Pertaining to, consisting in, or producing tension: esp. in relation to the muscles.
oakum
n. - Originally: the coarse woody fibres (hurds or tow) separated from the finer fibres of flax or hemp; (also) †clippings, trimmings, shreds (obs.). Later (also): esp. loosely twisted fibres obtained chiefly by untwisting and picking old hemp rope; such fibres or the like, used as a caulking material for the seams of wooden ships, the joints of pipes, etc., and formerly sometimes in dressing wounds. Now chiefly hist.
The picking of old rope was a task formerly assigned to convicts and inmates of workhouses.
aposiopesis
n. - A rhetorical artifice, in which the speaker comes to a sudden halt, as if unable or unwilling to proceed.
bijou
n. - A jewel, a trinket; a ‘gem’ among works of art. Also attrib. Loosely as adj.: small and elegant, luxurious (applied esp. to houses).
adj. - Belonging to the south, southern; also, influenced by the south wind, warm and moist.
eruct
v. - To void wind noisily from the stomach through the mouth.--To emit (fumes) by eructation.--Of a volcano.
fosse
n. - spec. A ditch constructed as a defensive barrier in front of or around a building, settlement, etc.; a moat encircling a fortified place.--A deep, wide-mouthed hollow or excavation; a hole, a pit. Also: a place of burial or sacrifice, a grave. rare and poet. or hist. in later use
civet
n. - A genus of carnivorous quadrupeds, yielding the secretion called by the same name. Specifically, the central African species, Viverra civetta, an animal ranking in size and appearance between the fox and the weasel. Often called more fully civet-cat.--A yellowish or brownish unctuous substance, having a strong musky smell, obtained from sacs or glands in the anal pouch of several animals of the Civet genus, especially of the African Civet-cat. It is used in perfumery.
marasmus
n. - Originally: any wasting disorder. Now: severe loss of body weight, spec. (in Med.) that caused in children by protein-energy malnutrition.
cf. marasme - ety. French marasme consumption (1538 in Middle French)
clonic
adj. - Med. Designating or relating a type of movement in which there is alternating contraction and relaxation of one or more muscles occurring in rapid succession, as in some types of epileptic seizure and certain other disorders; opposed to tonic.
cf. clonus - Med. A spasm or series of spasms of alternate muscular contraction and relaxation.
tonic
adj. - Physiol. and Pathol. Pertaining to, consisting in, or producing tension: esp. in relation to the muscles.
oakum
n. - Originally: the coarse woody fibres (hurds or tow) separated from the finer fibres of flax or hemp; (also) †clippings, trimmings, shreds (obs.). Later (also): esp. loosely twisted fibres obtained chiefly by untwisting and picking old hemp rope; such fibres or the like, used as a caulking material for the seams of wooden ships, the joints of pipes, etc., and formerly sometimes in dressing wounds. Now chiefly hist.
The picking of old rope was a task formerly assigned to convicts and inmates of workhouses.
aposiopesis
n. - A rhetorical artifice, in which the speaker comes to a sudden halt, as if unable or unwilling to proceed.
bijou
n. - A jewel, a trinket; a ‘gem’ among works of art. Also attrib. Loosely as adj.: small and elegant, luxurious (applied esp. to houses).
posted by mh at 1:21 PM
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