Category: Word of the Day

Definition: (noun) A nest of ants.

Synonyms: anthill.

Usage: Hours after accidentally stepping on a formicary, she was still picking stray ants off of her jeans.

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Definition: (noun) A writing table; a desk.

Synonyms: secretaire, writing table, secretary.

Usage: In the large shining mahogany escritoire Mr. Osborne had a drawer especially devoted to his son’s affairs and papers.

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Definition: (adjective) Of or relating to winter.

Synonyms: brumal, hiemal.

Usage: Our teacher described the first activities of bears as they emerge from hibernal sleep.

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Definition: (noun) A small hammer with a rubber head used in percussive examinations of the chest and in testing reflexes.

Synonyms: percussor, plessor.

Usage: When the doctor tapped my knee with the plexor, my reflex was so strong that I almost kicked him in the head!

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Definition: (adjective) Extremely desirous.

Synonyms: hungry, thirsty.

Usage: The young, enthusiastic student was athirst for knowledge.

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Definition: (noun) Land with a soft muddy surface.

Synonyms: mire, morass, quag, slack.

Usage: We had some difficulty in reaching the point, owing to the intolerably bad paths; for everywhere in the shade the ground soon becomes a perfect quagmire.

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Definition: (noun) A satire or lampoon, especially one that ridicules a specific person, traditionally written and posted in a public place.

Synonyms: parody, put-on, sendup, spoof, charade, lampoon, mockery, burlesque, travesty, takeoff.

Usage: The corrupt politician was a popular target of the pasquinades that were posted all over the city.

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Definition: (noun) A grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods.

Synonyms: chela, nipper, claw.

Usage: The front pair of legs terminate in very strong and heavy pincers.

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Definition: (noun) A split or opening in an organ or part.

Synonyms: crack, crevice, fissure, cleft.

Usage: The surgeon explained that the stitches he had used to sew the scissure shut would dissolve in a few weeks.

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Definition: (adjective) Marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed.

Synonyms: furtive, stealthy, sneaky.

Usage: She stole a surreptitious glance at him, but he, too, seemed to have been caught up by Rose’s gay, good humor.

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