Friday 30 December 2016

Resolution

Friday 30th December 2016

Resolution - /rɛzəˈluːʃ(ə)n/

Noun
1) A firm decision to do or not to do something.


1.1) A formal expression of opinion or intention agreed on by a legislative body or other formal meeting, typically after taking a vote.


2) [mass noun] The quality of being determined or resolute.
3) [mass noun] The action of solving a problem or contentious matter.
3.1) Music The passing of a discord into a concord during the course of changing harmony.


3.2) Medicine The disappearance of a symptom or condition.
4) Chemistry 
[mass noun] The process of reducing or separating something into constituent parts or components.


4.1) Physics The replacing of a single force or other vector quantity by two or more jointly equivalent to it.



5) The smallest interval measurable by a telescope or other scientific instrument; the resolving power.
5.1) [mass noun] The degree of detail visible in a photographic or television image.
  










Example sentences
Noun
A New Year's resolution
The conference passed two resolutions
He handled the last British actions of the war with resolution
The peaceful resolution of all disputes’
Tension is released by the resolution from the dominant to the tonic chord’
Complete remission was defined as resolution of clinical evidence of disease’
‘Each resolution process was examined and classified into one of four types.’
‘The resolution of fluorescence emission spectra into Gaussian components is shown in Figs.3-6.’
‘To measure this region, both the instrument resolution and photon statistics need to be improved.’
A high-resolution monitor’

Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin resolutio(n-), from resolvere loosen, release (see resolve).
                                   

Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Thursday 29 December 2016

Auld Lang Syne

Thursday 29th December 2016

Auld Lang Syne - /ˌɔːld laŋ ˈsʌɪn/

Noun
[mass noun] Times long past.


Example sentences
Noun
‘Literally translated from Scottish dialect, the words auld lang syne mean old long since, or, in more familiar terms, days gone by’



Phrases
For old times' sake
‘How about a bock, for auld lang syne, before we start our argument?’

Origin
Late 18th century: Scots (see auld, lang syne). The phrase was popularised as the title and refrain of a song by Robert Burns (1788).


                                   











Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Wednesday 28 December 2016

Champagne

Wednesday 28th December 2016

Champagne - /ʃamˈpeɪn/

Noun
1) [mass noun] A white sparkling wine from Champagne
1.1) A pale cream or straw colour






Example sentences
Noun
‘The couple celebrated with a glass of champagne
‘A champagne silk dress’

Proper Noun
A former province of NE France, which now corresponds to the Champagne-Ardenne administrative region. The region is noted for the white sparkling wine first produced there in about 1700.
                                   

Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Friday 23 December 2016

Gold

Friday 23rd December 2016

Gold - /ɡəʊld/

Noun
1) A yellow precious metal, the chemical element of atomic number 79, used in jewellery and decoration and to guarantee the value of currencies.
1.1) An alloy of gold
2) A deep lustrous yellow or yellow-brown colour
3) Coins or other articles made of gold
3.1) Money in large sums; wealth
3.2) Something considered to be precious, beautiful, or of the most superior quality
4) [count noun] The bullseye of an archery target.



Example sentences
Noun
Gold earrings’
‘9-carat gold
‘Her eyes were light green and flecked with gold
‘Her ankles and wrists were glinting with gold
‘He proved to be a rabid seeker for gold and power’
‘They scout continents in search of the new green gold
‘Every single arrow that you shoot has the possibility of hitting the centre of that target, hitting the gold, hitting the 10’

Phrases
Go gold
(Of a recording) achieve sales meriting a gold disc:
‘Her debut album recently went gold

Pot (or crock) of gold
A large but distant or imaginary reward
‘The prospect of  pot of gold when the statue was sold’

Origin
Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch goud and German Gold, from an Indo-European root shared by yellow.
                                   

Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Thursday 22 December 2016

Wassail

Thursday 22nd December 2016

Wassail - /ˈwɒs(ə)l/ - /ˈwɒseɪl/

Noun
1) [mass noun] Spiced ale or mulled wine drunk during celebrations for
Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve
1.1) Lively and noisy festivities involving the drinking of plentiful amounts of alcohol; revelry


Verb
1) Drink plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way
1.1) historical [with object] (in SW England) drink to (fruit trees, typically apple trees) in a custom intended to ensure a fruitful crop
2) Go from house to house at Christmas singing carols


Example sentences
Noun
‘A mighty bowl of wassail in which the apples were hissing and bubbling’
‘I arrived in Eastcheap, that ancient region of wit and wassail

Verb
‘He feasted and wassailed with his warriors’
‘It is the custom, in the cider districts of Sussex, to wassail the apple trees’

Here we go a-wassailing


Origin
Middle English wæs hæil ‘be in (good) health!’: from Old Norse ves heill (compare with hail). The drinking formula wassail (and the reply drinkhail ‘drink good health’) were probably introduced by Danish-speaking inhabitants of England, and then spread, so that by the 12th century the usage was considered by the Normans to be characteristic of Englishmen.
                                   

Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Wednesday 21 December 2016

Carol

Wednesday 21st December 2016

Carol - /ˈkar(ə)l/

Noun
A religious folk song or popular hymn, particularly one associated with Christmas


Verb
1) [With object] Sing or say (something) happily
2) (As noun carolling) The activity of singing Christmas carols


Example sentences
Noun
‘We sang carols by candlelight’

Verb
[With direct speech] ‘‘Goodbye,’ he carolled
‘Christmas carolling

Origin 
Middle English: from Old French carole (noun), caroller (verb), of unknown origin.
                                   

Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Myrrh

Tuesday 20th December 2016

Myrrh - /məː/

Noun
[mass noun] A fragrant gum resin obtained from certain trees and used, especially in the Near East, in perfumery, medicines, and incense.


Example sentences
Noun
‘The story is told of Jesus being born in Bethlehem and being visited by wise men from the east that brought presents of gold, incense, and myrrh.’

Origin
Old English myrra, myrre, via Latin from Greek murra, of Semitic origin; compare with Arabic murr bitter.
                                   

Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Monday 19 December 2016

Tinsel

Monday 19th December 2016

Tinsel - /ˈtɪns(ə)l/

Noun
1) [mass noun] A form of decoration consisting of thin strips of shiny metal foil attached to a long piece of thread
1.1) Showy or superficial attractiveness or glamour


Example sentences
Noun
‘A room bedecked with tinsel and fairy lights’
‘His taste for the tinsel of the art world’


Origin 
Late Middle English (denoting fabric either interwoven with metallic thread or spangled): from Old French estincele spark, or estinceler to sparkle, based on Latin scintilla a spark.
                                   

Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com