Definition: (adjective) Marked by a gradual progression as if step by step.
Synonyms: bit-by-bit, in small stages, piecemeal, step-by-step.
Usage: Quantum mechanics is a natural system of stepwise interactions that governs very small things.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
Watching as a video game ensnares their child, many a parent has grumbled about “digital heroin,” likening the flashing images to one of the world’s most addictive substances. Now, they may have backup: The World Health Organization announced “gaming disorder” … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Although women have worn bikini-like two-piece garments for centuries—mosaics from the 4th century depict women in such garb—the modern bikini was only introduced in 1946. Anticipating that his revealing swimwear design would have an explosive effect on fashion, French engineer Louis Réard named his skimpy suit after the Bikini atoll in the central Pacific, where US nuclear testing had just begun. However, he struggled to find a model to debut his G-string bikini. Who finally agreed to wear it? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Isle of Man, located off the coast of England in the Irish Sea, was once the property of the Vikings. It was here that they established their custom of holding an open-air court for the settling of disputes and the passing of laws. Today, the Tynwald Ceremony—whose name comes from the Norse Thing vollr, meaning a fenced open parliament—is held at St. John’s on Tynwald Hill on July 5, when the Lieutenant-Governor reads a brief summary of every bill that has been passed during the year—first in English, and then in Manx, the old language of the island. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Barnum may be best known for the circus he formed with James Bailey in 1881, but this took place late in his life and was neither his first, nor sole, line of work. The splashy showman was also an author and, oddly enough, a politician. Yes, the man who may have said “There’s a sucker born every minute” was elected to office—more than once. Apparently fond of seeing his name in print, Barnum published his autobiography in 1855 and even got a newspaper to oblige him in what way before his death? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
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Found in moist North American woodlands, wood frogs are forest-dwelling amphibians notable for their resistance to freezing. During cold spells, the frogs’ liver glycogen is converted in large quantities to glucose in response to ice formation in their tissues. The glucose acts as antifreeze, inhibiting ice formation in cells, which would otherwise rupture. If ice formation is confined to extracellular fluids, the frogs are able to survive the winter. In what unique place do wood frogs breed? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse.
Synonyms: banal, old-hat, stock, threadbare, timeworn, trite, well-worn, tired, shopworn, commonplace.
Usage: For God's sake do not thrust upon me your hackneyed remarks, repeated to nausea, that "I was only a dreamer," while they even then had an understanding of life.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
Spiders fall from the sky all the time. Most airborne spiders are small and scattered, so they often go unnoticed, except when they descend all at once. A rain of spiders drowned the Australian town of Goulburn in silk in 2015. A Goulburn resident who … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Just two decades after the Wright brothers produced the first manned, power-driven plane, aviator B. H. DeLay started performing stunt-filled airshows. His repertoire included tail spins, barrel rolls, and loop-the-loops, and he went on to execute air stunts in more than 50 films. At age 31, DeLay died in an airshow plane crash. In the midst of a loop, the wings of his plane folded back, and it plummeted to the ground. After the crash, there were rumors of sabotage. When was the mystery solved? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The village of Plymouth Notch, Vermont, is where Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 30th president of the United States, spent his boyhood and was sworn in as president by his father following the death of Warren Harding in 1923. On the Fourth of July each year, the anniversary of Coolidge’s birth, there is a noontime march from the green near the Plymouth Post Office to the Notch Cemetery, led by a Vermont National Guard colorguard with a bugler and a chaplain. The White House sends a wreath, which is laid at the President’s tomb. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary