A bough (pronounced /bau/) is a main branch of a tree. Its homonym bow has several meanings including: to quit a competition, to bend the body in an act of submission or reverence, to acknowledge applause, or debut. Bow can be pronounced /bo/ and has an alternate meaning. It can be a tie of a …
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North American fries (or French fries) are sticks of fried potato served hot. Outside of North America, namely the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, these fried pieces of potato are called chips. (Side note: a chippy is a place that sells fish and chips.) However, to North Americans chips are thin slices of potato served cold. In …
A firebrand is a passionate person who may enact change in a particular cause, commonly political or social. Sometimes this person is seen as a ramblerouser or troublemaker, capitalizing on unrest in a community. The term can also be used in a complimentary sense, that the person is good at instigating a change …
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The dictionary lists America is the landmass consisting of North and South America. However, we were not able to find one example if it being used in this way, and so it is our belief that this definition will become obsolete sooner rather than later. America is commonly used as a name for …
Grammarist is not a dictionary-approved word. It specifically relates to this website. The term for a person who specializes in grammar is a grammarian. Also, someone who creates or standardizes a syntactical construct is a grammarian. The word grammar has largely stayed unchanged from its Latin root of gramatica. As you can see by this n-gram, …
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While there is some debate in the world of psychology, clinically the terms psychopath (or its abbreviation psycho) and sociopath are relatively interchangeable. Both refer to a clinical diagnosis of someone without guilt, who also has violent tendencies and disregard for others and laws. The slang term psycho is used as an insult meaning something or someone …
As a verb, pooped has three meanings. The first is to defecate; second, the act of a wave coming over the side of a ship, perhaps capsizing the ship; and third, to be very tired. A related but separate phrase is for something to poop out or stop working suddenly. History The second …
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Civic is an adjective which describes an object or person as having to do with a city or town, or that the object was created or came from a city or town. It specifically has to do with the government of a city or the duties involved with running a city. …
A wheelhouse is a structure that encloses a ship’s navigation area, also called a pilothouse. The idiom in your wheelhouse means where your greatest strengths lie. In baseball, the wheelhouse of a batter’s strike zone that is most likely to hit a home run. Lastly, in the same wheelhouse means in the same category or very similar. Examples “About …
A troika is a group of three things, usually three individuals who work together in a leadership capacity. Originally it was a term for Russian sleighs or carriages pulled by a team of three horses. Additionally, Troika is the name of a committee which organized loans to several European countries during the recent …