Definition: (verb) Flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise.
Synonyms: guggle, gurgle, ripple, babble.
Usage: The brook burbled over the smooth stones, splitting and rejoining as it meandered toward the larger creek.
Source: The Free Dictionary
Guru Arjan (1563-1606) was the fifth of the Sikh gurus and the first to be martyred. He was known for compiling the Adi Granth, the “First Collection” of Sikh scripture. People commemorate Guru Arjan’s martyrdom by visiting gurdwaras, places of worship, for special services. In India, where the weather is exceptionally hot at this time of year, it is traditional for Sikhs to make drinks available to every passerby—a reminder that part of Guru Arjan’s torture before his death was being deprived of water. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Compost is a dark, soil-like substance made of decomposed plant material. It is generally used in agriculture to improve soil structure and as a form of fertilizer. A range of methods and tools can be used for composting, but the process can also be as simple as letting a pile of dead plant matter—such as grass clippings or vegetable waste—sit and decompose for a year or more. Even in winter, the interior of the pile will remain hot due to the digestive action of microbes. What is “compost tea”? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Characterized by jokes and good humor.
Synonyms: jesting, joking.
Usage: The jocular atmosphere of the mess hall disappeared when the drill sergeant entered the room.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Held in Tokyo at the Hie Shrine, the Sanno Matsuri is held every two years. People in special holiday outfits jam into the shrine complex. On June 15, the shrine’s mikoshi (portable shrines) and gilded lions’ heads are brought out for the main parade, accompanied by about 400 participants dressed in costumes of the Heian Era. The shrine maidens perform kagura—sacred dance and music in honor of the gods. A good-luck ceremony known as the Chi-no-Wa Shinji involves passing through a big circle woven together with chigaya (a kind of grass) attached to a bamboo frame. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
A knockout is a blow that renders a person unconscious. Knocking out one’s opponent is one way to win a match in combat sports like boxing and mixed martial arts. A typical knockout—like anesthesia—results in a sustained loss of consciousness and memory. Repeated knockouts can cause brain injury. A “technical knockout” can be declared by a referee when a fighter cannot stand or cannot safely continue to fight, even if he or she is still conscious. What causes loss of consciousness in a knockout? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) A source of harm or ruin.
Synonyms: bane, scourge, curse.
Usage: My doctor says I need to improve my diet immediately, but fast food, my great nemesis, tempts me every day during my commute home.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (verb) Make psychologically or physically used (to something).
Synonyms: habituate.
Usage: Endeavor, then, to accustom yourself to our manner of living in these northern climes as you did to those of Rome, Florence, Milan, and Madrid.
Source: The Free Dictionary
The term “early music” refers to music from the medieval, renaissance, baroque, and classical periods, up to and including Beethoven and Schubert, performed on period instruments. Since 1983, the residents of southeastern Connecticut have been able to hear early music performed on such unusual instruments as the slide trumpet, sackbut, viola da gamba, and the clavichord. The concerts are held in small rooms or churches so that the subtleties of the instruments can be heard—particularly the Noank Baptist Church in Noank and the Harkness Chapel at Connecticut College in New London. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Pillar-Saints, or stylites, were Christian ascetics who preached while living atop pillars—sometimes for decades at a time. One of the first such stylites, if not the first, was Simeon the Elder of Syria. Expelled from a monastery for excessive austerity, he stood on a column for more than 35 years until his death in 459. He was revered throughout the Christian world and attracted a following. What did Saint Alypius do when he could no longer stand on the pillar he had occupied for 53 years? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary