Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Refos’sion, n. the act of digging up. Word in the Wild: My dog’s favourite activities are eating, sleeping, and refossion. According to the OED, refossion more specifically means to dig up a second or subsequent time, which makes sense given the re- at the start of the word. You might also have noticed […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Querimo’nious, a. complaining. Word in the Wild: By shutting himself in his basement office every morning to write querimonious letters to the editor, Gregor purged himself of invective and was able to spend his afternoons playing sunnily with his grandchildren. You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Lusk’ish, a. inclined to laziness. Word in the Wild: Stavros was glad Pekoe didn’t scratch or bite, but he thought maybe she should hunt or prowl or, you know, at least move or something. He’d never seen a more luskish cat in all his life and was beginning to wonder if he should […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Illaq’ueate, v. to entangle; to entrap. Word in the Wild: The received wisdom is that mouse traps are the best way to illaqueate mice, but Wayne, who was at his wit’s end, was seriously thinking of investing in a mongoose. You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Grub’ble, v. to feel in the dark. Word in the Wild: Max was in the wine cellar when the lights went out. He lurched and grubbled about, breaking a bottle of Richebourg Leroy while he tried to find the stairs. It was as he paused to mourn the loss that he heard the […]
Questions and Answers Cheryl—a loyal reader and fellow verbivore—sent in another great question yesterday: I have a question that has been puzzling me for some time. What is the opposite of the word “fade”; as in “light fades at dusk”? What does light do in the morning? Well, after checking out a couple of thesauruses, I’ve […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Flammiv’omous, a. belching out flames. Word in the Wild: The flammivomous dragons embroidered on the fraying tapestry were nothing like the ones Huang Long had read about in her story books as a child—these creatures were positively terrifying. The contributor of the photo of the dragon is Jim Winstead Jr. The photograph is copyrighted […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Exi’tial, Exi’tious, a. destructive; fatal. Word in the Wild: When people head into the forest for the first time, they’re often afraid of garter snakes even though they’re harmless and timid, yet few are afraid of the mushrooms they see despite the fact that many of them are exitial. You can find a […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Domicil’iate, v. to fix a place of residence. Word in the Wild: Well, I got the job, packed up all my stuff, arranged for the moving van, and now I’ve just got to domicliliate myself in my new neighbourhood. Here fix means something like install in. So if you’re domiciliating someone you’re getting […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Yex, v. to have the hiccough. Word in the Wild: I just can’t seem to console little Lily. I’ve fed her and changed her, but she just keeps wailing and yexing. Poor girl. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that yex is onomatopoeic: yex…yex…yexyex! But be careful when you’re bandying this obsolete […]