To touch base is to talk to or make contact with someone briefly, usually used with the word ‘with’. In its other forms it is touching base, touched base, or touches base. It does not require the use of quotation marks. The forms touch bases or touch basis are incorrect. While there is little proof, most people agree …
Wonder is a verb meaning to feel curiosity, doubt, or admiration. Wonder can also be a noun describing a feeling of admiration, usually caused by something new or beautiful. Wonderment is a synonym for the noun definition of wonder. It is a noun meaning a state of reverence or adoration. In most cases, wonder would be sufficient. However, one …
Quixotic describes something or someone as wishful to the point of foolishness. This person or thing is often engaged in achieving ideals or impossible tasks. The word comes from a book titled The ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The main character, Don Quixote, imagines himself a knight …
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As a transitive verb, one which requires an object, oblige can mean to restrict by external force or circumstances. To be obliged is to be in someone’s debt because of a favor or service. As an intransitive verb, one which does not require an object, oblige means to take action as a favor, or without …
Writ large is a phrase meaning obvious or clear. Writ is an archaic form of ‘written’. So one can understand the idiom writ large as something written largely or magnified. However, it should always be in reference to a specific noun, used after said noun as an appositive, and not as a verbal …
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Hand-wash is a verb meaning to wash something by hand. Hand soap can sometimes be referred to as handwash or hand wash. When talking about the act of washing one’s hands, there is not a official listing in most dictionaries. Medical reference books use the spelling of handwashing, but most other sources, including spell check, use hand …
An udder is a mammary organ that secretes milk, characteristic of cows and other mammals. Utter is an adjective describing something as complete or absolute. Utter is also a verb meaning to speak or to put forged money into circulation. Examples “It’s just an utter tragedy to lose a man of that caliber in the …
Purple prose is a noun phrase used to describe prose that is showy, elaborate, or overemotional. The term is used particularly when the writing gets in the way of the reader’s experience. It does not need quotation marks or a hyphen. History The term is attributed to the Roman poet Horace, …
Machine gun is a noun phrase that is defined as a weapon that fires bullets rapidly as long as the trigger is held down. When hyphenated, as machine-gun, the word becomes an adjective used to describe things that happen very quickly. Machine-gun can also be a verb, to shoot something with a machine gun. However, …
A dark horse is something or someone that is perceived to be an unlikely winner and does, in fact, succeed, usually in a competition. It should always be spelled as two words, and does not need to be set apart by quotation marks. The term was, unsurprisingly, coined in horse racing when …