A Dictionary of Cont..

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ski 458 philosophy, the Skeptic (capitalized) is one who doubts or questions the possibility of real knowledge of any kind. See also agnostic. ski. The plural is skis or ski. sLin of one’s teeth. It was with the skin of his teeth that Job (chapter 19, verse 20) escaped, that is, with nothing at all. Or at least he so escaped up until the Revised Standard Version which accepts the common change, which has become a cliche, by the skin of my teeth. skitttes takes a singular verb, as in skittles was played. Skittles and ninepins are two names for the same game and both words have been in the language for several hundred years. Ninepins is the word used most often in the United States today and skittles is seldom heard except in the expression beer and skittles. skull. See scull. sky and skies can be used interchangeably. The word sky once meant a cloud. This is no longer true but it has resulted in our being able to use either the singular or the plural form in speaking of the vault above us-whether it contains clouds or not. Both forms may also be used figuratively for the regions of the blest, as in the eternal mansions of the sky and he raised a mortal to the skies, she drew an angel down. sky light; skylight. Sky light is the light or color of the sky. A skylight is an opening in the roof or ceiling, fitted with glass, for admitting daylight, or the frame set with glass fitted to such an opening. slack; slake. Slack is primarily an adjective meaning not tense or taut (The hawsers hung slack) ; indolent, negligent (He was slack about his duties); lacking in activity, not brisk (Business is always slack right after Christmas); sluggish, as of the water, tide, or wind; slow in tacking, as of a sailing vessel. As a noun slack means a slack condition, interval, or part; part of a rope, sail or the like that hangs loose without strain upon it (Pull the cable in there. Take up the slack); a decrease in activity, as in business or work; or the state of the tide when there is no horizontal motion. As a verb slack may be used to mean to be remiss in some respect in some matter; to make or to allow to become less active, vigorous; to make loose or less tense; in nautical terminology, to ease off. Slake is used exclusively as a verb. It may mean to make less active, vigorous, intense (like slack), yet slacken is a better verb than either one. Slake means primarily to allay thirst, desire, wrath, by satisfying (They slaked their thirst in the muddy water); to cool or refresh. It may also mean to disintegrate or treat lime with water or moist air, causing it to change into calcium hydroxide (We used to slake lime with which to line the tennis courts). shah See day. slander. See libel. slang is language regarded as unsuitable for standard, cultivated speech and especially for formal writing. In slang the creative forces that shape language are often exceedingly active and much slang is vivid and clever and forceful. Much more of it, however, is merely faddish and infantile and its consistent use does not display the fullness of expression that the user thinks it does but rather a triteness and a staleness that the user is apparently unaware of. Slang ages quickly and nothing so stamps a total lack of force or originality upon a man or woman as the steady use of outmoded slang. Slang is not as bold as many of its users believe it to be; it shares the taboos of ordinary speech and is rich in euphemisms. It often defiantly substitutes violence for elegance and the gruesome for the dainty, and sometimes this is a good corrective, but it is no more bold than standard speech. Kick the bucket may be a scornful jibe at the evasion of pass away but die maintains a cold dignity that neither dare approach. The vitality of slang, the manner in which it gives renewed expression to old thoughts that have become dimmed through usage and lost, as it were, in the very words that once expressed them, is shown in the fact that much slang merely repeats unknowingly the basic meaning of a standard word or phrase. Thus what is know-how but savoire faire? And why shouldn’t it be in English? Even such a forced absurdity as 08 his rocker has its parallel in delirious, which means, etymologically, “out of his furrow.” And there are hundreds more. slant, as a noun, means literally a slanting or oblique direction, slope (There was a steep slant from the back door down to the barn). In America the word is also used figuratively Co mean a mental tendency or leaning, a bias, or a point of view (From his reading and travels he got a new slant on his native society). slash means literally to cut with a violent sweep or by striking violently and at random. In America it also means figuratively to reduce or to cut down. In this sense it is greatly overworked in newspaper advertisements announcing a reduction in prices (Prices slashed!). Used as a noun, usually in the plural, slashes in the United States describes a tract of wet or swampy ground overgrown by bushes and trees. slate in America is used figuratively to describe a tentative list of candidates, officers for acceptance by a nominating convention or the like. The actual list of candidates nominated or put forward by a political party or faction to be voted for is called a ticket. slattern. See sloven. slaughter. See massacre. slay. The past tense is slew. The participle is slain. T’he form slayed is not standard English and is heard only in humorous exaggeration, as in it slayed me! Though in England slay is a poetical or rhetorical word only (. . . in thy book record their groans/ Who were thy sheep and in their ancient fold/ Slain by the bloody Piedmontese), it is a standard everyday word in America, used as an alternative to kill, especially to kill by violent means (Socially prominent couple slain in love nest. Slayer to get the chair). It is a great favorite of newspapermen with impor erished vocabularies.
sled; sledge; sleigh. These nouns all describe a vehicle that is drawn by runners on snow or !ice. Sledge is the usual term in England (The Muscovites make use of sledges, made very low) though sleigh is becoming more common. Sleigh is the American word to describe a light, usually open vehicle on runners, generally horse-drawn, used for pleasure driving (Oh what fun it is to ride/ In a one-horse open sleigh). In England sleigh is a military term to describe a sledge used for the transport of artillery. Sled is used in America in two ways. It may describe a vehicle mounted on runners for conveying loads over snow, ice, or rough ground. That is, it suggests a freight vehicle as sleigh suggests a passenger vehicle (In heavy winter weather my father used a bob-sled and horses lo get through the drifts that lay between
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A DICTIONARYOF CONTEMPORARY by BERG
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When we speak or write we want to b
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that he doesn’t know the ditieren
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A DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY AMERIC
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abdomen 4 Probably the commonest ty
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above 6 in they sold at about $3 n
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accessa ry 8 passion (In an access
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act 1 a busybody) act is invariably
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adjectives 12 and the -al endings a
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adjectives 14 way, as burning hot,
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adverbs 16 that this is a genitive
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adversary 18 qualifies the article
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African 20 in he is afraid to die.
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agreement 22 element standing close
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airship 2:4 airship, when used at a
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ah3ory it should know that its use
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alpha 28 alpha and omega. See from
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ambiguous 30 not, one of the cardin
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ample 3 2 which is ample is more th
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answer 34 course an anonymous work
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antonym 3 6 has the owl-eyed man de
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apostrophe 3 plurals, see genitlve
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aquarium 40 of a verb. When it mean
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artist 42 lo the righr of us. When
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ash 44 ash; ashes. These words mean
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ate 46 by disease or villainy, the
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authoritative 48 had thought they a
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await 50 await. See anticipate. awa
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aggage check, baggage car. He would
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asis by Ogden and his colleague, I.
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ear 56 can you bear to hear about i
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eginner 58 usually a more elaborate
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esought 60 ably, but today they mea
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id 62 4. Doublets and triplets cont
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ite 64 bite. The past tense is bit.
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loom 66 use and its jocular use has
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Boston 68 In U. S. political usage,
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owels bowels of the earth. Only in
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ed 72 all price,/ When once yozz’
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ugger 74 it read: Thou shalt not ne
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um 76 who is destroying himself by
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utcher 78 tinctions seem too subtle
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calendar 80 fact that there is only
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candelabrum 82 well that he is able
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capitalize 84 planets are capitaliz
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CaSe 86 stances, anyhow. In case me
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caught 88 mittee of a political par
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ceremonial 90 really means, “For
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cherished 92 cherished belief(s). T
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city 94 city fathers. To refer to m
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our fist, a nail, our jaws, a rope,
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little group meeting chiefly for co
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differentiated whole. Words of this
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declared in his First Supplement to
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commentator 104 commentator. It was
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comparison 106 comparative, and nei
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compilation 108 as in he is compete
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comprehend 110 hearted, horn-rimmed
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conductive 112 conductive; conduciv
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connected 114 question of punctuati
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consume 116 A consul was at one tim
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controversial 118 lent, as in I con
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cowardly sires would naturally be k
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crossways 122 but had no military a
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cuspidor 124 joyed by a husband in
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dash 126 dare may be used with or w
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decide 128 or practice of deceiving
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deism; theism. Deism is the belief
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descant 132 to do. Fifty-six years
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devote 134 visor. That number by wh
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differentiate 136 mistake. As he kn
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discrepancy 138 Discrete is pretty
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divorc6 140 -ing, -ish, -ed, -er, -
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domicile 142 Macaulay. in 1849, ref
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doubletalk 144 construction, chiefl
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drove 146 land but is standard in t
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duty solution (the assurance that t
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eatable 150 acceptable. Coleridge u
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elapse 152 or last longer than it w
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isks are still used in very formal
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endorse thirw-five years before tha
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enviable form. As a noun, meaning a
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escape 160 tion, he does not refuse
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euphemism 162 where excretory and b
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everybody 164 before a singular nou
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go except thou bless me. This const
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exhilarate 168 exhilarate. See acce
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extort 170 surface of the pumpkin i
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faithfully 172 rather than actually
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fauna 174 implication of moral cond
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fetch 176 assume that it was decora
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fine 178 tion wundering, or by a cl
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flambeau perception (She has a flai
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fly full possession of his facultie
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forbade few words, such as afraid a
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forensic 186 latexes or latices and
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fragile 188 Decimals, which are a c
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friable 190 Many a psychiatric term
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funny 192 funny; comical; droll; lu
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making him feel that something has
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genera 196 in English than in langu
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genitive 198 not know when he can s
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genteel ways at some repair or impr
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Carlyle, and most of the great nine
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go English literature and is standa
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except at Harvard University where
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grandiose ness of utterance (This m
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grouse 210 the great writers of Eng
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gymnasium any wriier of English sin
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happen 214 happen. This verb may be
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form, such as I had painted the hou
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Judenhetze than anti-Semitism) is n
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hesitate 220 herself and herself wi
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Hobson’s 222 of Christmas shopper
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honored 224 a graceful or embarrass
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H was always capitalized. The Palme
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hundred in which something turns ou
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ice 230 form, as in a hydraulics en
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illegal 232 In contemporary America
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immigrant 234 emerged from the hedg
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imply; infer. The primary meaning o
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inaugurate 238 in so far as it was
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index 240 is used to qualify a noun
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indorse 242 the preferred form when
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inlinitives 244 (Whether this lo is
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yo~cr going out is no proof. A noun
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ingenious 248 they are seidom notic
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installment 250 of the word today i
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intent 252 late. These particular w
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interpellate 254 300,000,000 human
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invite 256 invite; invitation. Thou
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it 258 be used for this purpose whe
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joiner 260 &isfer. A joiner in Engl
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junket word. It is a shortening of
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kindling 264 he kind of hesitated.
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opes,” took the steering our) to
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the part nearer the end, as in his
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with no derogatory implication at a
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lend. The past tense is lent. The p
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libelant others (He dearly loved a
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like 276 food, that I like it, bzzt
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linking verbs 278 verb has its uniq
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literate 280 word’s being used si
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locate 282 graphical situation or i
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especially to qualify an adjective
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madding Madame, the conventional Fr
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of those phrases that after four or
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maneuver 290 not permitted to decli
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marvel any undertaking (He was a vi
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matter 294 get building material du
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meat 296 word and the noun it quali
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meridian 298 the reward of evildoin
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millermy 300 milled). In America on
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mistreat 302 conceived or done,”
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molasses 304 powers. Nor are the sh
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Morpheus 306 mean a stupid person (
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much 308 other title, except possib
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mutual 310 title, Our Mutual Friend
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name 312 a specific name, but it is
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necessities 314 unitary condition (
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neither 316 negative is generally c
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nice 318 the issue of the battle ha
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IlO 320 no man and no men. A singul
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noplace 322 that night. The uard is
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notary 324 beauty; as a woman, a no
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nouns as adverbs 326 the constructi
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numerals 328 numerals. CARDINAL NUM
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objective 330 The noun objection is
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obloquy meaning of unconscious and,
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such a sentence as It may have been
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today as it was always intended to
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OdY trary, the sentence says “no
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optimism 340 it is followed by of (
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orchis. The plural is orchides, not
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ought 344 This was not always true.
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over 346 across, as in come over; a
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Page page. Although the older meani
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parallel constructions 350 into mor
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layed a pickle into one of the most
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participles 354 Written is part of
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pass 356 Puss may be followed by an
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past 358 only interested in himself
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pathos 360 of writers, especially p
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peevish 362 few others as good, but
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perennial 364 denial or refusal (Th
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personal 366 has to have a nanic fo
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pessimist 368 are, plainly, closely
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pigeon 370 both countries pig is us
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told that a certain plank has been
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FORMATION Almost all English plural
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poetic diction 376 sage. such as hi
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polish 378 or the like (Our foreign
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pore 380 ing from general use and p
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position of adjectives 382 The adje
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pound 384 construction survives to
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prefer 386 a verb, as in Z prefer r
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presage 388 as in for what are you
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present tense 390 and can be used i
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preventive 392 mind (such as: Preve
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profanity 394 still have to find a
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proof 396 me; and it may even be un
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proportion 398 favor of, especially
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psychology The phrase was woolly in
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purebred 402 which it is and clearl
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queer 404 queer fish. From our anth
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not be used at all. A misquotation
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Page 426 and 427: made such a delightful and instruct
Page 428 and 429: usiness manager is responsible to t
Page 430 and 431: everend 424 often means no more tha
Page 432 and 433: ickets 426 rickets. This word is pl
Page 434 and 435: of money is the root of all evil. H
Page 436 and 437: Sahara 430 been lost have been foun
Page 438 and 439: sanctum 43i2 certain places, the te
Page 440 and 441: has been temperate where severity o
Page 442 and 443: scratch pad 436 title of their most
Page 444 and 445: munity could be the aged, those who
Page 446 and 447: semicolon 440 zybski’s are ludicr
Page 448 and 449: sentence adverbs 442 ment, such as
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Page 452 and 453: set 446 attacked by the people who
Page 454 and 455: shall 448 I will be there is heard
Page 456 and 457: shine 450 ing Ephraimites (who coul
Page 458 and 459: shower 452 quarrel. When it comes t
Page 460 and 461: signed wholly different from their
Page 462 and 463: sink 456 trust, a five-dollar bill.
Page 466 and 467: slothfLl1 460 may be made acceptabl
Page 468 and 469: mite. The past tense is smote. The
Page 470 and 471: Socratic irony capitalized form of
Page 472 and 473: sort of 466 he does not intend to i
Page 474 and 475: spectacle 468 intentions, moral mat
Page 476 and 477: splutter 470 the infinitive, as in
Page 478 and 479: stti 472 means several such groups.
Page 480 and 481: lish of educated people is always c
Page 482 and 483: steer 476 nights later in a product
Page 484 and 485: StQd 478 This unit of weight is not
Page 486 and 487: stratum 480 of his strategy is a ma
Page 488 and 489: subjective pronouns 482 1. The word
Page 490 and 491: subjunctive 484 actually is or has
Page 492 and 493: sublime 486 coming to us in British
Page 494 and 495: succor 488 the expression of much i
Page 496 and 497: sunk 490 mmk; sunken. See sink. son
Page 498 and 499: suspenders 492 was nothing to justi
Page 500 and 501: swollen lashing than a cane. The ol
Page 502 and 503: table 496 discussion, a procedure o
Page 504 and 505: tantalize twelve o’clock high. Hi
Page 506 and 507: tell 500 It means to broadcast by t
Page 508 and 509: a game. Ninepins is a game, chiefly
Page 510 and 511: thanks so4 thanks are not deserved.
Page 512 and 513: the that’s to defining clauses. B
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theism ard language at least five h
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think 510 you think for and as much
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threadbare 512 punishment, to show
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time 514 or manner of production ca
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token 516 one another,” as in tho
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tower 518 hawk’d at and kill’d)
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transmit 520 ing one who is transie
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excursionist; he’s on a short out
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tru6tworthy 524 uting); a person wh
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ultimately 526 The story, by the wa
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understood 528 with humorous modest
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UIlhOWIl 530 differently referred t
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UIltil 532 until. See tin. untimely
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usual 534 here?, he usen’t to dri
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sordid and improper in the transact
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happened, although we can also say
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vertebra 540 Robert Frost’s “Me
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7 ViCtUdS 542 not proves the superi
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wad is generally taken to mean a sm
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wapiti Do you wish some more potato
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washing 548 washerwoman. American u
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weather 550 ing to make ambiguous.
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wheal 552 used to make a negative s
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while is grammatically comparable t
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who 556 to use that after a persona
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the victim was attached to a horse
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witness 560 fossfls, in fheir own w
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WOdS 562 keep his promises and fulf
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wring 564 which two persons struggl
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Yiddish 566 already, but not in a s
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