Entries tagged with wordsmith: simplyn2deep

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Tuesday word: Teratoid

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Teratoid (adjective)
teratoid [ ter-uh-toid ]

adjective
1. Biology. resembling a monster.

Related Words
atrocious, dreadful, egregious, freakish, frightful, grotesque, gruesome, heinous, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrifying, inhuman, intolerable, obscene, odious, outrageous, preposterous, terrible, vicious

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: First recorded in 1875–80; terat- + -oid

Example Sentences
She was rushed into life-saving surgery, but the diagnosis was an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, or ATRT, the most common brain cancer in infants and one of the deadliest.
From Washington Post

Doctors said Allia had an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, a rare, fast-growing cancer of the brain and the spinal cord.
From New York Times

Platten sang the hit with a cancer patient, 7-year-old Jeremiah Succar, at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles after finding out through social media that Succar was a huge fan of the song since he was diagnosed with stage-four atypical rhabdoid teratoid in May.
From Time

The fact that this life is being lived right now by developer Ryan Green and his wife as their son undergoes treatment after treatment for Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumors makes this game even more painful and poignant.
From Forbes

Routh suffered from an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor.
From Seattle Times

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Tuesday word: Geyser

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Geyser (noun, verb)
geyser [ gahy-zer, -ser gee-zer ]

noun
1. a hot spring that intermittently sends up fountainlike jets of water and steam into the air.
2. British Informal. a hot-water heater, as for a bath.

verb (used without object)
3. to spew forth as or like a geyser: the kettle geysering all over the stove.

Other Word Forms
gey ser·al gey ser·ic adjective

Related Words
gusher, hot spring

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1755–65; < Icelandic Geysir name of a hot spring in Iceland, literally, gusher, derivative of geysa to gush

Example Sentences
There’s geysers of gore and a skinhead who gets turned into a tiki torch.
From Los Angeles Times

The wellspring of this geyser of asininity is the simple fact that Trump doesn’t understand how trade works.
From Los Angeles Times

The smoldering conditions also caused pressure to build, resulting in geysers of hazardous liquid waste bursting onto the surface and white smoke seeping out of long fissures.
From Los Angeles Times

Another one gave way in rural Yancey County last week, sending a geyser dozens of feet into the air.
From Salon

Observations from Earth and orbiting probes suggest that some of this water works through fissures in the ice and blasts through in geysers over a hundred miles high.
From Los Angeles Times

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Tuesday word: Beholden

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Beholden (adjective)
be·hold·en [bih-hohl-duhn]

adjective
1. obligated; indebted: a man beholden to no one.

Other Word Forms
un be·hold en adjective

Related Words
grateful, obligated, obliged

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
obliged, bound, grateful, liable.

Origin: 1300–50; Middle English, adj. use of beholden, old past participle of behold

Example Sentences
He warns that this may put them "in a position where they're beholden to China".
From BBC

That may seem baffling, but at Monday’s press preview, Miller spoke about how figures praised as Black dandy icons are “still beholden to the whims of the institution.”
From Salon

She’s no longer the woman thrown to the floor and beholden to her abuse, as we see in flashbacks.
From Salon

Lyle: I think an important question is, how much are you beholden to your family?
From Los Angeles Times

They seem not to want to be beholden to any actual constituency and are hoping to raise money from large dollar donors.
From Salon

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Tuesday word: Xanthic

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Xanthic (adjective)
xanthic [ zan-thik ]

adjective
1. of or relating to a yellow or yellowish color.
2. Chemistry. of or derived from xanthine or xanthic acid.

Origin: From the French word xanthique, dating back to 1810–20. See xantho-, -ic

Example Sentences
The first, which included the yellow, was called the Xanthic; the second, which omitted the yellow, the Cyanic.
From Project Gutenberg

Xanthic, flowers including yellow in their color, 45.
From Project Gutenberg

Xan′thate, a salt of xanthic acid.—adj.
From Project Gutenberg

"Perhaps if we find his xanthic highness after a good meal he will be inclined to be a bit more lenient," Loomis whispered with a forced laugh, trying to cheer his glum companions.
From Project Gutenberg

On this day, it was ornamental designs engraved on tombstones, xanthic blooms of Magnolia trees, the flight of birds observed from the car, and now nests under a bridge.
From Project Gutenberg

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Tuesday word: Ramose

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Ramose (adjective)
ramose [ rey-mohs, ruh-mohs ]

adjective
1. having many branches.
2. branching.

Other Word Forms
ra mose·ly adverb
ra·mos·i·ty [r, uh, -, mos, -i-tee], noun
mul ti·ra mose adjective
sub·ra mose adjective

Origin: 1680–90; < Latin rāmōsus full of boughs, equivalent to rām ( us ) branch ( ramus ) + -ōsus -ose

Example Sentences
With almost a dozen immortal emperors jostling for position, high-level Inka society was characterized by ramose political intrigue of a scale that would have delighted the Medici.
From Literature

Botanical Description.—A small plant with stem red, straight, quadrate, ramose.
From Project Gutenberg

Flowers between yellow and red outside and straw-colored inside, in racemes on a cylindrical scape 3° or more high, sometimes ramose, peduncles very short.
From Project Gutenberg

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Tuesday word: Paregmenon

Tuesday, Apr. 29, 2025

Paregmenon (noun)
paregmenon [ puh-reg-muh-non ]

noun, Rhetoric.
1. the juxtaposition of words that have a common derivation, as in “sense and sensibility.”

Origin: 1670–80; < Greek parēgménon derived, neuter of perfect passive past participle of parágein to bring side by side, derive. See par-, paragon

Examples of 'pareidolia' in a sentence
Rationality insists that this is pareidolia – the tendency to perceive patterns in abstract stimuli.
The Guardian (2019)

Face pareidolia – seeing faces in random objects or patterns of light and shadow – is an everyday phenomenon.
The Guardian (2021)

Our brains are so eager to spot faces that this accounts for the most common form of pareidolia, the human tendency to make meaningful shapes out of random patterns.
The Guardian (2021)

One possibility is pareidolia, where the mind ' sees' patterns that are not there.
The Sun (2013)

Seeing patterns in randomness is known by psychologists as pareidolia.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)

This summer there were some great opportunities for pareidolia in cumulus clouds that were full of fascinating shapes.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)

Pareidolia is a phenomenon rarely heard of but is so common that everyone has experienced it.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)

Boffins say our brains are wired to look for faces in objects, calling the phenomenon pareidolia.
The Sun (2012)

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Tuesday word: Pettifogging

Tuesday, Apr. 22, 2025

Pettifogging (adjective)
pettifogging [ pet-ee-fog-ing, -faw-ging ]

adjective
1. insignificant; petty: pettifogging details.
2. dishonest or unethical in insignificant matters; meanly petty.

Related Words
frivolous, lesser, minor, narrow-minded

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: First recorded in 1570–80; pettifog, -ing

Example Sentences
Experts were doubtful from the start of his pettifogging that he had reasonable grounds to bail out.
From Los Angeles Times

The Economist described his viewpoint succinctly: “He paints stewards of fair play — regulators and boards — as pettifogging enemies of progress,” wrote its pseudonymous business columnist “Schumpeter.”
From Los Angeles Times

The virtue of this concept is that it divorces essential protections from pettifogging debates over the definition of “employee.”
From Los Angeles Times

Last month, President Biden’s Education Department released 13 pages of pettifogging rules patently written to discourage and impede charter schools from accessing a $440 million federal program of support for charters.
From Washington Post

Mr. Johnson’s allies accuse the European Union of inflexibility in applying rules, a pettifogging lack of sensitivity to feelings in parts of Northern Ireland and vengeful hostility toward Britain for exiting the bloc.
From New York Times

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Tuesday word: Mawkish

Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025

Mawkish (adjective)
mawkish [ maw-kish ]

adjective
1. characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional; maudlin.
2. having a mildly sickening flavor; slightly nauseating.

Other Words From
mawk ish·ly adverb
mawk ish·ness noun

Related Words
cloying, gooey, maudlin, mushy, sappy, sloppy, teary

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1. teary, sentimental

Origin: 1660–70; obsolete mawk maggot ( late Middle English < Old Norse mathkr maggot) + -ish. See maggot

Example Sentences
The dialogue was more dignified: no brainless chatter or mawkish introductions.
From New York Times

Not to be mawkish, but one of the things I like about the show is that if I saw it when I was 18, I think I would’ve enjoyed it.
From Los Angeles Times

This dialogue verges on the mawkish: “What does hermaphrodite mean?”
From New York Times

“Hourglass” suffers for its sometimes mawkish language, places where Goddard reaches for earnestness but sounds insincere, or just immature.
From Los Angeles Times

It sounds mawkish, but the picture’s low-key vibe and offhand humor land with surprising grace.
From New York Times

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Tuesday word: Admonish

Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2025

Admonish (verb)
admonish [ ad-mon-ish ]

verb (used with object)
1. to caution, advise, or counsel against something.
2. to reprove or scold, especially in a mild and good-willed manner: The teacher admonished him about excessive noise.
3. to urge to a duty; remind: to admonish them about their obligations.

Other Words From
ad·mon·ish·er noun
ad·mon·ish·ing·ly adverb
ad·mon·ish·ment noun
pre·ad·mon·ish verb (used with object)

Related Words
advise, berate, censure, chide, enjoin, exhort, rebuke, reprimand, scold, upbraid, warn

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
2. upbraid, censure, rebuke

Synonym Study
See warn. See reprimand.

Origin: First recorded in 1275–1325; late Middle English admonish, amonesche, admonesse, amoness, Middle English a(d)monest (with -t later taken as past participle suffix), from Anglo-French, Old French amonester, from Vulgar Latin admonestāre (unrecorded), apparently derivative of Latin admonēre “to remind, give advice to” (source of -est- is uncertain), equivalent to ad- ad- ( def ) + monēre “to remind, warn”; monitor ( def )

Example Sentences
Savage went on to empower our community to admonish naysayers of queer party-going, community enrichment, and quality time — however we choose to define those terms.
From Salon

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has been admonished after entering the private chambers of other judges and going through their papers and computers, according to the California Commission on Judicial Performance.
From Los Angeles Times

She was spared further punishment and admonished by Lord Beckett after he heard Gallagher had not offended over the last year.
From BBC

He admonished Joe Biden’s administration as “the worst in history” and he swore that countries across the globe were releasing gang members from prisons to invade our country.
From Salon

Spencer was years ahead of other Republicans in admonishing the GOP to be more welcoming to Latinos.
From Los Angeles Times

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Tuesday word: Riffraff

Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2025

Riffraff (noun, adjective)
riffraff [ rif-raf ]

noun
1. people, or a group of people, regarded as disreputable or worthless: a pack of riffraff.
2. the lowest classes; rabble: the riffraff of the city.
3. trash; rubbish.

adjective
4. worthless, disreputable, or trashy.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1425–75; late Middle English rif and raf every particle, things of small value < Old French rif et raf, formed on rifler to spoil ( rifle 2 ), raffler to ravage, snatch away

Example Sentences
He has some friends — acquaintances, really — whom he hates, mentally labeling them “the riffraff, the vulgarians, the slobs.”
From New York Times

She associated Georgia’s capital city with “crime” and “riffraff,” similar to how Trump once disparaged Atlanta as “crime infested” and “falling apart.”
From Seattle Times

Just before the riots he had also responded to a rowdy reception committee in one banlieue by calling them racaille - riffraff.
From BBC

Indeed, this “savage,” as Shakespeare took pains to note in his complicated depiction of Caliban, is a good deal more civilized than the drunken riffraff with whom he falls into cahoots.
From Los Angeles Times

“I’ve dealt with the riffraff on the street for 14 years so I know how to play that,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times

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Tuesday word: Glissade

Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2025

Glissade (noun, verb)
glissade [ gli-sahd, -seyd ]

noun
1. a skillful glide over snow or ice in descending a mountain, as on skis or a toboggan.
2. Dance. a sliding or gliding step.

verb (used without object), glissaded, glissading.
1. to perform a glissade.

Other Words From
glis·sad er noun

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1830–40; < French, equivalent to gliss ( er ) to slip, slide + -ade -ade

Example Sentences
For the glissade, Nancy glided over a few feet to the left.
From Literature

In the book, she glissades past this defining moment, which I would have liked to see her hold for a few more counts.
From Washington Post

From hiking a few miles to learning how to use an ice ax and glissade down a mountain, we trained and grew stronger together to ultimately reach the summit.
From Seattle Times

As I contemplated how to avoid glissading down the mountain, my phone powered down due to the cold and I lost my GPS tracker.
From Seattle Times

At about 7 a.m., around 300 dancers — boys and girls, men and women — took turns glissading across the concrete at 44th Street and Seventh Avenue, which was transformed into a scene from “Fame.”
From New York Times

Now YOU come up with a sentence (or fic? or graphic?) that best illustrates the word.

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Tuesday word: Clinquant

Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025

Clinquant (adjective, noun)
clin·quant [kling-kuhnt]

adjective
1. glittering, especially with tinsel; decked with garish finery.

noun
2. imitation gold leaf; tinsel; false glitter.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1585–95; < Middle French: clinking, present participle of clinquer (< Dutch klinken to sound); -ant

Example Sentences
Descartes has almost entirely discarded this quaintness, which sometimes passed into what is called in French clinquant, that is to say, tawdry and grotesque ornament.
From Project Gutenberg

Come here, Stephanie, and see a miracle of manhood, that could resist all the clinquant of a hussar for the simple costume of the cole Militaire.
From Project Gutenberg

The General and the generals went in and crowded the hall of audience, very clinquant with its black and white floor, glass chandeliers, long mirrors and single gilded center table.
From Project Gutenberg

Anecdotes of Painting," says, "Lely supplied the want of taste with clinquant; his nymphs trail fringes, and embroidery, through meadows and purling streams.
From Project Gutenberg

She that a clinquant outside doth adore, Dotes on a gilded statue and no more.
From Project Gutenberg

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Tuesday word:

Tuesday, Mar. 4, 2025

Auberge (noun)
auberge [ oh-bairzh; French oh-berzh ]

noun, plural auberges
1. an inn; hostel.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
caravansary, caravanserai, hospice, hostel, hostelry, hotel, inn, lodge, public house, tavern

Origin: 1770–80; < French, Middle French < Provençal, Franco-Provençal aubergo hostelry, Old Provençal alberga, alberja encampment, hut, noun derivative of albergar, dissimilated form of arbergar to lodge, shelter < Vulgar Latin < East Germanic *haribergōn to shelter an armed force ( hari- army + bergōn to shelter); harbinger, harbor < a West Germanic cognate of the same verb

Examples of auberge in a Sentence
they spent their honeymoon at a little French auberge that overflowed with charm

Recent Examples on the Web
But the five-star service aboard this sumptuous auberge on wheels, the novelty and literal ride of it, can make even the most worldly travelers feel giddy.
—Matt Ortile, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Aug. 2024

High up on an isolated bluff over the Pacific, the property that is part of The Ryokan Collection, combines a modern edge with traditional elements, all with the style and elegance of a French auberge.
—David Hochman, Forbes, 6 May 2023

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Tuesday word: Levity

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025

Levity (noun)
lev·i·ty [lev-i-tee]

noun Plural levities.
1. lightness of mind, character, or behavior; lack of appropriate seriousness or earnestness.
2. an instance or exhibition of this.
3. fickleness.
4. lightness in weight.

Related Words
frivolity, giddiness, hilarity, mirth, repartee

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1, 2. frivolity, flippancy, triviality, giddiness.

Origin: 1555–65; < Latin levitas lightness, frivolity, equivalent to levi ( s ) light + -tas -ty

Example Sentences
This isn’t just the levity viewers are seeking, it’s the community they require.
From Salon

Words outlast life, so I’m just determined to find my joy through the page, and bring as much light and levity to this burning world.
From Los Angeles Times

I really love music and film because it adds a levity and an emotional layer that not only lifts the audience in the story but the crew when we’re making the film.
From Los Angeles Times

Love is a killer in the new Valentine’s Day horror flick “Heart Eyes” — but Gigi Zumbado brings levity and charm to this cheeky, yet gruesome movie.
From Los Angeles Times

But that levity and absurdity was really the show’s superpower at a time when a lot of the other buzzy comedy shows are making us cringe or cry.
From Los Angeles Times

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Tuesday word: Bonhomie

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025

Bonhomie (noun)
bon·ho·mie [bon-uh-mee, bon-uh-mee; French baw-naw-mee]

noun
1. frank and simple good-heartedness; a good-natured manner; friendliness; geniality.

Other Words From
bon·ho·mous [bon, -, uh, -m, uh, s], adjective

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: First recorded in 1795–1805; from French, equivalent to bonhomme “good-natured man” ( boon , Homo ) + -ie -y

Recent Examples on the Web
The relative bonhomie of the Obama administration, when the countries held wide-ranging talks on bilateral, regional, and global issues, is unlikely to return any time soon.
—Zhou Bo, Foreign Affairs, 13 May 2024

Some informal soccer even took place, now an iconic image of the bonhomie (although whether any games actually got going is disputed).
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Dec. 2024

Set in the 1950s Midwest, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams brought a winning, working-girl bonhomie to the bachelorette lifestyle — and put a mark on TV wardrobes with their signature sweaters bearing curlicue initials.
—Sara Netzley, EW.com, 21 Dec. 2024

And in place of executions and sermons that pepper many of their videos are bucolic scenes of bonhomie and carefree pleasures.
—Joshua Meservey, Foreign Affairs, 17 Dec. 2015

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Tuesday word: Jolly

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025

Jolly (adjective, verb, noun, adverb)
jol·ly [jol-ee]

adjective
1. in good spirits; gay; merry: In a moment he was as jolly as ever.
2. cheerfully festive or convivial: a jolly party.
3. joyous; happy: Christmas is a jolly season.
4. Chiefly British Informal. delightful; charming.
5. British.
a. Informal. great; thorough: a jolly blunderer.
b. Slang. slightly drunk; tipsy.

verb (used with object)
6. Informal. to talk or act agreeably to (a person) in order to keep that person in good humor, especially in the hope of gaining something (usually followed by along ): They jollied him along until the job was done.

verb (used without object)
7. Informal. to jolly a person; josh; kid.

noun
8. Informal. the practice or an instance of jollying a person.
9. Usually, jollies. Informal. pleasurable excitement, especially from or as if from something forbidden or improper; thrills; kicks: He gets his jollies from watching horror movies.

adverb
10. British Informal. extremely; very: He'll jolly well do as he's told.

Other Words From
jol·li·ly adverb
jol·li·ness noun
un·jol·ly adjective

Related Words
carefree, cheerful, chipper, convivial, enjoyable, festive, jovial, joyous, lighthearted, merry, playful, pleasant

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1–3. glad, spirited, jovial, sportive, playful. See gay.

Antonyms
1–3. gloomy, melancholy.

Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English joli, jolif < Old French, equivalent to jol- (probably < Old Norse jol Yule ) + -if -ive

Recent Examples on the Web
The same jolly collection also returns to the Top Streaming Albums chart for another year.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025

Winter break is a jolly time of the year for many children.
—Holly Garcia, Parents, 31 Dec. 2024

Demi Moore is having a jolly good time with her family this holiday season!
—Angel Saunders, People.com, 27 Dec. 2024

That Hilty and Simard make it so jolly is a big relief and a big surprise.
—Rachel Sherman, New York Times, 27 Dec. 2024

The 4Chan programmers got their viral sensation and their jollies.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024

Sunday was a tough day for those, like me, who get their entertainment jollies by watching losers try to redeem themselves.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2024

As to the political will needed to jolly the process along, and arrange payment for those parts of the programme that will not pay for themselves, this can push both ways.
—The Economist, 21 Sep. 2019

So Watt sets out to convince them that the real killer is Peter Manuel by — wait for it! — taking him out on a bender and jollying him into a confession.
—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times, 19 May 2017

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Tuesday word: Bombast

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Bombast (noun, adjective)
bom·bast [bom-bast]

noun
1. speech too pompous for an occasion; pretentious words.
2. Obsolete. cotton or other material used to stuff garments; padding.

adjective
3. Obsolete, bombastic.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1560–70; earlier bombace padding < Middle French < Medieval Latin bombacem, accusative of bombax; bombax family

Recent Examples on the Web
That's because the economic mood is really what seemed to matter most, and many people don't take a lot of what Trump says seriously because of his penchant for bombast and his transactional nature.
—Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 19 Jan. 2025

On Dangerous, Riley helps carve a sharper figure out of the bloat and bombast that defines all of Jackson’s post-Thriller albums, and Jackson’s increasingly percussive vocal style came alive in new ways over Riley’s propulsive new jack swing tracks.
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 16 Jan. 2025

Donald Trump’s stance on nuclear weapons has been one of obsessive and reckless bombast.
—Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024

These new movies offer a new kind of spectacle, one that’s not just a matter of audiovisual bombast but that inheres in cinematic form, becomes part of a film’s narrative architecture, and creates a distinctive psychological relationship with viewers.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2024

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Tuesday word: Dawn

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025

Dawn (noun, verb)
dawn [dawn]

noun
1. the first appearance of daylight in the morning: Dawn broke over the valley.
2. the beginning or rise of anything; advent: the dawn of civilization.

verb (used without object)
3. to begin to grow light in the morning: The day dawned with a cloudless sky.
4. to begin to open or develop.
5. to begin to be perceived (usually followed by on): The idea dawned on him.

Idioms and Phrases
In addition to the idiom beginning with dawn, also see crack of dawn; light dawned.

Other Words From
dawn like adjective
un·dawned adjective

Related Words
dawning, daybreak, daylight, morning

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1. daybreak, sunrise.
5. appear, occur, break.

Antonyms
1. sunset.

Origin: First recorded before 1150; Middle English dawen (verb), Old English dagian, derivative of dæg day; akin to Old Norse daga, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German dagen, Old High German tagen

Entry tags:

Tuesday word: Newsworthy

Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025

Newsworthy (adjective)
newsworthy [ nooz-wur-thee, nyooz- ]

adjective
1. of sufficient interest to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage.

Other Words From
news wor thi·ness noun
un·news wor thy adjective

Related Words
consequential, front-page, meaningful, momentous, relevant

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: First recorded in 1930–35; news + -worthy

Recent Examples on the Web
There were other political events in a newsworthy year that ranked in the Top 100 across multiple networks.
—Brad Adgate, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025

So Outdoor Life asked experts to break down the most recent newsworthy breakthroughs and ideas related to the disease.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 25 Dec. 2024

The salary is less newsworthy than the length of the deal and the buyout.
—Blake Toppmeyer, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024

The information the source supplies must be newsworthy and give readers genuine insight.
—Anton Troianovski, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2024

Entry tags:

Tuesday word: Hangfire

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025

Hangfire (noun)
hangfire [ hang-fahyuhr ]

noun
1. a delay in the detonation of gunpowder or other ammunition, caused by some defect in the fuze.

Origin: First recorded in 1890–95; hang + fire

Example Sentences
According to Samantha Evans of Hangfire Southern Kitchen in Barry, South Wales, by far the best solution is to use one tool we always have close to hand: your thumb.
From The Guardian

They, too, were nervous about hangfire, the unstable snow left along the edges of an avalanche’s path that can release at any moment.
From New York Times

June Allyson and Robert Walker on a hangfire honeymoon.
From Time Magazine Archive