Definition: (noun) A correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence).
Synonyms: jail, slammer, clink.
Usage: The burglar was caught red-handed and thrown in the pokey.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
In recent decades, the government organizations of Bahrain have worked toward making its national arts program as robust as its oil industry. The Spring of Culture Festival, held every March in the capital city of Manama, helps fulfill this cultural mission and promotes tourism to the country. Thanks to its reputation as a meeting place between the East and the West, Spring of Culture is able to attract performers from all over the world. National, regional, and international artists converge on Manama to perform poetry readings, music, theater, and dance. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The divine right of kings is the belief that kings derive their right to rule by the will of God—regardless of the approval of any earthly authority. According to this doctrine, the king’s authority is inherited from his ancestors, whom God appointed to rule. Because such a king answers only to God, resistance to him is seen as sinful. James I of England strongly promoted the concept in the early 1600s, and the coronation ceremony for British monarchs still contains what hints of the doctrine? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) Clock that measures time by the escape of water.
Synonyms: water clock, water glass.
Usage: The Wicked Witch dared not use a clepsydra, as its contents could destroy her.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
The nation’s largest livestock show, with more than 35,000 entries, is held in the famous Astrodome of Houston, Texas. The show is a reminder of the 19th-century days when Houston’s shipping trade was based on timber, cotton, and cattle. Things get under way with a downtown parade, and the agenda then includes celebrity entertainers, pig races, and a chili cookoff. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Born Giuseppe Balsamo, Cagliostro was an 18th-century charlatan and adventurer. He roamed Europe posing as a physician, alchemist, mesmerist, necromancer, and Freemason and claimed to know the secrets of the philosopher’s stone and other potions. Once well-regarded in the court of King Louis XVI, he was banished following a scandal and returned to his native Italy. There, the Inquisition charged him with heresy and sorcery and imprisoned him for life. What had led to his banishment from France? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) Beating with a whip or strap or rope as a form of punishment.
Synonyms: flogging, lashing, tanning.
Usage: The poor servant boy bore the scars of flagellation, which was his master’s preferred punishment for nearly any infraction.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
Houston was an American statesman whose political future was seemingly derailed after his wife left him in 1829. He resigned the governorship of Tennessee, began drinking heavily, and went to live with the Cherokee. Later, he joined the Texas Revolution and became commander of the revolutionary forces. He led them to victory and was elected president of the new Republic of Texas. After Texas joined the US, he served the state first as a senator and then as governor. What were his last words? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
One of the first serious science fiction movies, Fritz Lang’s 1929 Woman in the Moon blends science and melodrama in a tale of love and intrigue on a lunar expedition. The silent film was made with advice from some of Germany’s leading rocketry experts and was remarkably prescient despite the fact that it was created 40 years before the lunar landing and depicted the Moon as having a breathable atmosphere. What launch procedure introduced in this film is still used in rocketry today? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Requiring or showing effort.
Synonyms: heavy.
Usage: He knocked again, harder than before, for behind him he heard the steps and the labored breathing of his persecutors.
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Source: The Free Dictionary