Index
All words, A to Z
33 entries, in alphabetical order.
B
- Word
A bell jar is a bell-shaped glass cover used to protect objects or hold gases or a vacuum; the phrase is also famous as the title of Sylvia Plath’s novel and as a metaphor for feeling trapped by depression.
- Word
A bicuspid is a premolar tooth with two cusps (points), sitting between the canines and the molars; as an adjective, bicuspid describes a body part that has two points, such as a bicuspid aortic valve.
C
- Word
Calico is cotton cloth—plain heavy cotton in UK use, printed patterned cotton in US use—and, especially in American English, a cat with white plus black and orange (or diluted) patches; UK speakers often call that coat tortoiseshell and white.
F
- Word
The Flatiron Building is a triangular 22-story skyscraper at 175 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan; its nickname comes from the wedge-shaped block that already looked like a cast-iron clothes iron, and the structure was originally named the Fuller Building.
- Word
Flimflam is deceptive talk, a swindle, or nonsense. As a verb, it means to trick or cheat someone.
- Word
Fogerty is an Irish surname, a spelling variant of Fogarty, from Ó Fógartaigh—“descendant of Fógartach.”
- Word
Foofaraw means a fuss over something trivial, or flashy, excessive decoration.
- Slang
A fun sponge is someone who spoils an enjoyable experience or does not want others to enjoy themselves.
G
- Word
A gamma ray is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, produced in nuclear processes and energetic events in space.
- Word
Grist is grain prepared for grinding, and by extension anything useful you can turn to your advantage—especially in the phrase grist for the mill; capitalized, Grist is also an open-source relational spreadsheet product.
H
- Word
A haberdasher is a seller of sewing supplies in British English, or a seller of men's clothing in American English; the word can also mean the shop.
- Slang
Halloweek is an informal name for the week of Halloween—the days around October 31 treated as one stretch of holiday events and costumes.
- Word
Hound is a noun for a hunting dog (or, informally, a person who pursues something avidly) and a verb meaning to chase or harass someone persistently.
I
- Word
As a noun, incense is a substance burned to make a sweet smell, often in religious ceremonies. As a verb (different stress), to incense someone is to make them extremely angry.
- Word
Interstitial means relating to a gap or interval between things; in medicine it often refers to spaces between cells or tissues, and as a noun it can mean a full-screen ad shown while a page loads.
J
- Slang
Jawn is Philadelphia slang for a person, place, thing, or event when you do not need—or do not know—a more specific word.
L
M
- Word
Maturated is the past tense and past participle of maturate: it means became mature or brought to maturity, and in pathology it can mean that a wound or lesion formed or discharged pus (suppurated).
- New usage
Maturated love is best read as a spelling/variant phrasing of mature love: a secure, caring partnership built on care, responsiveness, knowledge, and respect—not a clinical claim that love “maturated” like a wound, and not a measured psychology statistic.
- Word
To meddle is to involve yourself in someone else’s business without the right or invitation—usually in a way others find annoying or improper.
- Word
A Möbius strip (also spelled Mobius or Moebius) is a one-sided geometric surface made by giving a rectangular strip a half-twist and joining the ends.
N
- Word
A nettle is a wild plant with stinging hairs on the leaves; as a verb (especially British English), to nettle someone is to annoy or slightly anger them. Grasp the nettle means to deal bravely with a difficult or unpleasant task.
P
- Word
Protozoology is the scientific study of the organisms traditionally called protozoa.
- Slang
Psychs is usually the third-person form of the informal verb psych (to pump someone up or mess with their head), and people also search it for the joking shout “Psych!” and related slang.
R
- Word
Raglan describes a sleeve sewn in two straight, slanted lines from the neckline down to a point under the arm, so the sleeve continues to the collar instead of ending at a separate shoulder or armhole seam. The same word also names a loose overcoat made with those sleeves.
S
- Word
A scrivener is a person whose work is copying or writing documents, including formal documents such as contracts or wills.
- Word
A speed bag is a small, air-filled leather (or similar) bag hung from a rebound platform or stand that boxers use for fast, rhythmic punching practice to train hand-eye coordination, timing, and keeping the hands up.
T
- Word
Trenched is the past tense and past participle of trench: it usually means dug a long narrow ditch (often for utilities, planting, or military cover), or describes ground cut with such ditches.
- Word
A trifle is something of little value or importance; as a verb it means to treat lightly; and in British cooking it is a layered cold dessert of sponge, fruit or jam, custard, and cream.
V
- Word
A vaporetto is a public motorboat that works like a city bus on the canals of Venice, Italy.
- Slang
Vibe coding is writing software by telling an AI what you want in everyday language and letting it generate the code, often without carefully reading or understanding every line it produces.
W
- Word
A whelp is a young dog or other carnivore cub; as a verb, to whelp is to give birth to such young. In older or harsh speech it can also mean an insolent youth.