antelucan
adj. before dawn
finitor
n. the horizon
flavescent
adj. turning pale yellow
day-peep
n. the first appearance of daylight; the earliest dawn
Eoan
adj. of or pertaining to the dawn; eastern
Search Results for: in a word
In a Word
zumbooruk
n. a small cannon fired from the back of a camel
In a Word
guttatim
adv. drop by drop
supernaculum
adv. to the last drop
stillatitious
adj. falling in drops
quantulum
n. a small amount or portion
In a Word
bedrabble
v. to make wet and dirty with rain and mud
Our change climatic
We think acrobatic
And sigh for a land that is better —
But the German will say,
In a very dry way,
That the weather with him is still Wetter.
— J.R. Joy, Yale Record, 1899
In a Word
auricomous
adj. golden-haired
flavicomous
adj. having yellow hair
melanocomous
adj. black-haired
lissotrichous
adj. having smooth hair
cymotrichous
adj. having wavy hair
crinicultural
adj. caring for the condition or appearance of the hair
floricomous
adj. having the head adorned with flowers
In a Word
naufrague
n. a shipwrecked person
In a Word
meretriculate
v. to deceive in the manner of a prostitute
BOW-STREET — Eliza Merchant, a black-eyed girl, of that class of women known as ‘unfortunates,’ was charged by Garnet Comerford, a sailor, with robbing him of four sovereigns, several dollars and half-crowns, and his shoes. The tar stated that on Wednesday evening, about eight o’clock he left the house of his Captain, the honourable Mr. Duncan, at the west end of town, intending to pay a visit to a sister, whom he had not seen since he left England in the Seringapatem. On the way, he met as tight a looking frigate as ever he clapt his eyes on. She hoisted friendly colours; he hove to; and they agreed together to steer into port. They sailed up the Strand, when she said she would tow him to a snug berth, and he should share her hammock for the night. He consented; and when he awoke in the morning he found that she had cut and run. His rigging had been thrown all about the room, his four sovereigns and silver, and shoes were carried off.
— The Morning Chronicle, Dec. 8, 1828
In a Word
chirography
n. one’s own handwriting or autograph; a style or character of writing
What is this? It’s the signature of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. When Lew was nominated for the post in January 2013, it threatened to appear on all U.S. paper currency for the duration of his tenure.
Barack Obama said, “Jack assures me that he is going to work to make at least one letter legible in order not to debase our currency, should he be confirmed as secretary of the Treasury.” He did so — the current signature is below.
Lew’s predecessor, Timothy Geithner, had a similarly incomprehensible signature and produced a more legible version for the currency. “I took handwriting in the third grade in New Delhi, India,” he said, “so I probably did not get the best instruction on handwriting.”
In a Word
paralian
n. one who lives near the sea
ultramontane
adj. one who lives beyond mountains
pedionomite
n. an inhabitant of a plain, a dweller in a plain
interamnian
adj. lying between rivers
In a Word
sesquialteral
adj. half again as large
improcerous
adj. not tall
Born in 1915, giant Henry M. Mullins partnered with Tommy Lowe and little Stanley Rosinski to form the vaudeville act Lowe, Hite and Stanley. Of Mullins, who stood 7’6-3/4″ and weighed 280 pounds, doctor Charles D. Humberd said, “It is indeed amazing to watch so vast a personage doing a whirlwind acrobatic act. … He dances, fast and furiously, and engages in a comedy knock-about ‘business’ that would be found strenuous by any trained ‘Physical culturist.’ … He is alert, intelligent, well read, affable and friendly.” The act continued until Rosinski’s death in 1962.