Divulse

Word of the Day for Friday, June 8, 2012

divulse \dahy-VUHLS\, verb:

To tear away or apart.

A perforation having been so made, it is safer to divulse the opening rather than to enlarge it by cutting in order to avoid the possibility of opening a blood vessel in an inaccessible region.
-- Eugene Fuller, M.D., The Journal of the American Medical Association

Even if you are the kooper of the winkel over measure never lost a license. Nor a duckindonche divulse from bath and breakfast.
-- James Joyce, Finnegans Wake

Divulse comes from the Latin root vellere meaning "plucked". The prefix di- is a variation of dis- before the letter v meaning "apart" or "away", as in disown.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Larrup

Word of the Day for Wednesday, June 6, 2012

larrup \LAR-uhp\, verb:

To beat or thrash.

When a seagoing canoe beached on the stones, or when a neighbour came larruping from around back of the house, Martha Obenchain, peeling potatoes at a table in the sun, rose and put the kettle on, tickled pink.
-- Annie Dillard, The Living

A fast white boat comes larruping around the point from the direction of Mercer Island and banks towards him.
-- Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Larrup may derive from the Dutch word larpen meaning "to beat with flails".

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Apoplectic

Word of the Day for Tuesday, June 5, 2012

apoplectic \ap-uh-plek-tik\, adjective:

1. Intense enough to threaten or cause a stroke.
2. Of or pertaining to apoplexy.
3. Having or inclined to apoplexy.

noun:
1. A person having or predisposed to apoplexy.

When Abie used to shout, Rebecca always used to make a joke that he was having one of his apoplectic fits.
-- Alan Grayson, Mile End

...four years, one recession and a host of battles — over financial regulation and the nomination of Elizabeth Warren, over Dodd-Frank and the Buffett Rule — have taken their toll. Some on Wall Street are apoplectic. One former supporter, Dan Loeb, compared Obama to Nero; the president’s enemies insinuated worse.
-- Nicholas Confessore, "Obama’s Not-So-Hot Date With Wall Street", The New York Times Magazine, May 2, 2012

Apoplectic stems from the Greek word apoplēktikós which meant "pertaining to stroke". It literally meant "struck down".

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Histrionics

Word of the Day for Monday, June 4, 2012

histrionics \his-tree-ON-iks\, noun:

1. Behaviour or speech for effect, as insincere or exaggerated expression of an emotion.
2. Dramatic representation; theatricals; acting.

You are constantly talking about Beate's histrionics, her showing off.
-- Alberto Moravia, 1934

Of course it is not only southern writers, of lyrical bent, who engage in such histrionics and shout, "Look at me!" Perhaps it is a parable of all artists.
-- Tennessee Williams, New Selected Essays

Though it sounds like the word history, histrionics has a different root. It comes from the Etruscan root histriōn- which meant "actor".

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Levigate

Word of the Day for Sunday, June 3, 2012

Levigate \LEV-i-geyt\, verb:

1. To rub, grind, or reduce to a fine powder.
2. Chemistry. To make a homogeneous mixture of, as gels.

adjective:
1. Botany. Having a smooth, glossy surface; glabrous.

It is sufficient to levigate them with water to obtain them very white.
-- M. Richter, Philosophical Magazine, Volume 23

This clay, carefully levigated, and covered with an excellent glaze, yielded a red ware…
-- Samuel Smiles, Josiah Wedgwood

Levigate is derived from the Latin word lēvigātus meaning "to smooth."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Bosh

Word of the Day for Saturday, June 2, 2012

bosh \bosh\, noun:

Absurd or foolish talk; nonsense.

You know perfectly well — and it is all bosh, too. Come, now, how do they proceed?
-- Mark Twain, The Gilded Age

Bosh, bosh, bosh! Why is it right for him to follow his nature ? Because it is right. Why is it wrong for me to follow my nature? Because it is wrong. That's the whole of your argument…
-- George Dyre Eldridge, In the Potter's House

Bosh stems from the Turkish word bos meaning "empty". It was popularised in English by the British writer James J. Morier.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com 

Armamentarium

Word of the Day for Friday, June 1, 2012

armamentarium \ahr-muh-muhn-TAIR-ee-uhm\, noun:

1. A fruitful source of devices or materials available or used for an undertaking.
2. The aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties.

You can almost hear the crash as my medical armamentarium smashes to the ground.
-- Emily R. Transue, M.D., On Call

In addition to the past lying available in his memory, he had always had a technical armamentarium second to none; even the hostile critics had granted him that.
-- Orson Scott Card, Masterpieces

Litvikov led the way over to his long conference table, which was covered in green felt and stocked with an armamentarium of mineral-water bottles that the commissar never seemed to offer.
-- Robert Ludlum, The Tristan Betrayal

Armamentarium comes from the Latin root armament, which refers to equipment used by a military unit. The suffix -arium denotes a location or receptacle.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com