Word of the Day

Definition: (noun) A toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion. Synonyms: gear. Usage: Wheels began to revolve faster and faster, levers and cogwheels to work, chimes to play, figures to pop out, and the hands to advance with regular motion. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Marked by or exhibiting sorrow, grief, or pain. Synonyms: lachrymose, weeping, tearful. Usage: She always speaks with a wailing, dolorous voice—you are nervously expecting her to burst into tears every moment. Discuss

Definition: (noun) A black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink. Synonyms: crock, smut, soot. Usage: Our pilgrims would have liked very well to get out their lampblack and stencil-plates and paint their names on that rock. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Rigidly formal. Synonyms: buckram, stiff. Usage: Though I often poke fun at the butler's starchy manner, I secretly love the formality and sophistication he brings to my everyday life. Discuss

Definition: (noun) A pale light sometimes seen at night over marshy ground. Synonyms: friar's lantern, ignis fatuus, jack-o'-lantern. Usage: The white face of a dying man seemed suddenly to have floated up out of the darkness, to have come to him like a will-o'-the-wisp from the swamp. Discuss

Definition: (noun) An ardent follower and admirer. Synonyms: buff, lover, fan. Usage: He became a devotee of the moving-picture shows, spending as much as twenty and thirty cents a day and resolutely sitting out every repetition of program. Discuss

Definition: (noun) The quality of something that causes or assists healthy growth. Synonyms: fruitfulness. Usage: The island is famous for its fecundity and exports tropical fruits to countries around the globe. Discuss

Definition: (noun) An unsuspected difficulty or danger. Synonyms: booby trap. Usage: She's like a gentle little doe feeding on lilies—she doesn't dream of the pitfalls ahead of her. Discuss

Definition: (verb) To enlarge beyond bounds or the truth. Synonyms: exaggerate, hyperbolize, magnify, overdraw, amplify. Usage: I don't want to overstate things, but I feel like if I don't eat a hamburger in the next five minutes I am going to die of hunger. Discuss

Definition: (noun) A subsequent examination of a patient for the purpose of monitoring earlier treatment. Synonyms: reexamination, review. Usage: Heather hated going to the doctor, but she knew it was important to go to her follow-up and make sure everything was healing properly. Discuss