Extraordinaire means outstanding in a particular field or activity. Extraordinaire is a postpositive adjective, meaning an adjective that follows the noun that is modifies. Such constructions are evidence of the influence that Romance languages, especially French, have had and still have on English. French, Spanish, and Italian all use postpositive …
Realty is real property that is immovable, another term for real estate. Realty refers to land, buildings, and proprietary rights over land and buildings. Realty appears in the English language in the 1660s to mean real estate, evolving from its original meaning of real possession, in the 1540s. Reality means …
Idiomatic terms and phrases are popular in every language. Unfortunately, their use is lost if your audience is unfamiliar with the term. Idioms are words with figurative meanings rather than literal ones and help create analogies and more interesting conversations. A hat trick is a great example of this. The …
A jig is 1.) a lively dance 2.) a piece of music that a jig is danced to 3.) a part of a machine that guides a cutting tool 4.) a type of fishing lure that jerks up and down in the water 5.) to jerk something up and down …
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Canned goods are foodstuffs which are preserved by sealing the food in cans. Can goods is incorrect, as can may only serve as a verb or a noun. Canned is the adjective form of can. Canning came about as the answer to the problem of preserving food for soldiers during …
Allusive refers to a statement or reference that is suggestive, rather than mentioning something in a straightforward manner. Related words are allusively, allusiveness, allusion. The adjective allusive appears in the early 1600s, from alludere meaning a playing with, a reference to. Illusive means not based on reality, deceptive. Related words …
Upload means to transfer digital computer files from a client to a server. An example of uploading is transferring a video from a smartphone to a website, or transferring a PDF from a laptop to an archive website. The term upload comes into the English language in the late 1970s …
Micro- is a prefix which means small, reduced, magnifying. As a unit of measure, micro- means one millionth part of. Micro- is derived from the Greek mikros, meaning small, trivial, slight, petty, trivial. Micro- is a prefix which may be applied to word when describing something that is small scale. …
Lock out means to prohibit someone from entering. Lock out is a phrase that functions as a verb, related terms are locks out, locked out, locking out. A lockout is the process of an employer prohibiting employees to enter a business in order to work, a lockout occurs when there …
Excrete means to process and eject waste through biological function. Related words are excretes, excreted, excreting, excreter, excretive, excretion, excretory. Excrete comes from the Latin word excretus, which is the past participle of excernere, meaning to sift out, separate. Secrete means (1) to synthesize and release a substance, the movement …