Slake

Word of the Day for Monday 3^rd February 2014

Slake \sleyk\, verb:

1. to allay (thirst, desire, wrath, etc.) by satisfying.
2. to make less active, vigorous, intense, etc.: His calm manner slaked their enthusiasm.
3. to cause disintegration of (lime) by treatment with water.

My companions never drink pure water and the manioc beer serves as much to slake their thirst as to fill their stomachs and lubricate conversation.
-- Philippe Descola, The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle, 1996

She had the money he gave her (never enough to slake her anxieties).
-- Nuala O'Faolain, Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman, 1996

Slake comes from Middle English slaken, "to become or render slack," hence "to abate," from Old English slacian, from slæc, "slack."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Boffin

Word of the Day for Sunday 2^nd February 2014

Boffin \BOF-in\, noun:

a scientist or technical expert.

A brilliant boffin — well, everyone attached to Tea Clipper was brilliant in one way or another.
-- Tom Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, 1988

Two years thinking of nothing else. Nobel laureate, balding boffin, government appointee, in the dock, fighting to stay out of jail.

-- Ian McEwan, Solar, 2010

Boffin arose in the early 1940’s. Though there are many hypotheses about its etymology, its origin remains unknown.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Ugsome

Word of the Day for Saturday 1^st February 2014

Ugsome \UHG-suhm\, adjective:

Scot. and North England. horrid; loathsome.

Slowly she turned to find herself facing a man with a scarred hollow at his temple, a very ugsome fellow. “I don't know you,” she said. “Leave me alone.”
-- Lisa Klein, Love Disguised, 2013

“Whatever would compel a young lass to look so ugsome?” While Rose ducked her head, embarrassed, Leana curtsied and extended her hand.
-- Liz Curtis Higgs, Whence Came a Prince, 2005

Ugsome is from the Middle English word ugg meaning "to fear, cause loathing" which is probably rooted in the Old Norse word ugga.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Sessile

Word of the Day for Friday 31^st January 2014

Sessile \SES-il, -ahyl\, adjective:

1. Zoology. permanently attached; not freely moving.
2. Botany. attached by the base, or without any distinct projecting support, as a leaf issuing directly from the stem.

And I was afraid of being grounded, sessile—stuck in one spot for eighteen years of oboe lessons and math homework that I couldn’t finish the first time around.
-- Ariel Levy, "Thanksgiving in Mongolia," The New Yorker, Nov. 18, 2013

Alfred was stretched out his full length in the sword of sun that shone through the thick branches of the sessile oak trees.
-- Catherine Coulter, Rosehaven, 1997

Sessile stems from the Latin word sessilis which had a range of meanings including "fit for sitting on, low enough to sit on, and dwarfish (when referring to plants)." It entered English in the early 1700’s.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Riposte

Word of the Day for Thursday 30^th January 2014

Riposte \ri-POHST\, noun:

1. a quick, sharp return in speech or action; counterstroke: a brilliant riposte to an insult.
2. Fencing. a quick thrust given after parrying a lunge.

verb:
1. to make a riposte.
2. to reply or retaliate.

He remembered von Neumann's sly riposte to Oppenheimer's famous words quoted from the Bhagavad Gita after the Trinity implosion was heard around the world on July 16, 1945.
-- Bradford Morrow, Ariel's Crossing, 2002

Bantering, smart but tentative as shy circling children, both of us checking covertly after each riposte to make sure we hadn't crossed any line or hurt any feelings.
-- Tana French, In the Woods, 2007

Riposte comes from the French word of the same spelling which means "a prompt answer."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Squib

Word of the Day for Wednesday 29^th January 2014

Squib \skwib\, noun:

1. a short and witty or sarcastic saying or writing.
2. Journalism. a short news story, often used as a filler.

verb:
1. to write squibs.
2. to shoot a squib.

This last is a sarcastic squib partly based on an experience of Gérard de Nerval's in Vienna.
-- Théophile Gautier (1811-1872), translated by Richard Holmes, My Fantoms, published in 2008

His tendency to uphold technical views gave rise to a very clever squib by the late Mr. Justice Hayes, in which the spirit of the baron is supposed to arrive in Hades…
-- William Ballantine, Some Experiences of a Barrister's Life, 1883

Squib is of unknown origin, though it entered English in the 1500’s.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com

Boîte

Word of the Day for Tuesday 28^th January 2014

Boîte \bwaht; Fr. bwat\, noun:

a nightclub; cabaret.

Three more people entered the boîte and one of them was Clarisse. She saw Daniel, nodded without smiling and looked for a place to sit.
-- Hugh MacLennan, Return of the Sphinx, 1967

You're here now, at this groovy new boîte, for instance.
-- Kim Moritsugu, The Restoration of Emily, 2006

Boîte entered English in the early 1900s from the French word of the same spelling, which literally means "box" but is also used to refer to a nightclub, from the phrase boîte de nuit which means "box of the night."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com