Doctor Dictionary - Word Of The Day

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descry \dih-SKRY\, transitive verb:


1. To catch sight of, especially something distant or obscure; to discern.
2. To discover by observation; to detect.
On a clear day, if there was no sun, you could descry (but barely) the ships roving out at anchor in Herne Bay and count their masts.
-- Ferdinand Mount, Jem (and Sam)
The future appears to us neither as impenetrable darkness nor as broad daylight, but rather in a half-light, in which we can descry the rough form of the nearest objects, and vague outlines farther off.
-- Robert Conquest, Reflections on a Ravaged Century
Descry comes from Middle English, from Old French descrier, "to cry out, to proclaim." The Middle English word was originally applied to shouting one's discovery of an enemy, of game, or of land.
 

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cogitate \KOJ-uh-tayt\, intransitive verb:


1. To think deeply or intently; to ponder; to meditate.
2. To think about; to ponder on; to meditate upon; to plan or plot.
Still cogitating and looking for an explanation in the fire.
-- Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son​
Elliot seems to have been a serious type, given to New Year's Eves reading Shakespeare and cogitating on the sermon preached at his grandfather's funeral.
-- James Reaney, "They partied like it's 1899", London Free Press, January 3, 1999​
Doc Leach shifted his pipe from one corner of his mouth to the other and blinked a couple of times. That meant he was cogitating.
-- Monty Roberts, The Man Who Listens To Horses
Cogitate comes from Latin cogitare, "to turn over in one's mind, to reflect, to think, to consider," from co- + agitare, "to put in constant motion, to drive about," from agere, "to drive." It is related to agitate.
 

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invective \in-VEK-tiv\, noun:


1. An abusive expression or speech; a vehement verbal attack.
2. Insulting or abusive language.
3. Of, relating to, or characterized by insult, abuse, or denunciatory language.
But one can also note that he chose a fitting image for himself, going out in a duel of honor, armed all over with spikes of witty invective and a specialised knowledge of insult.
-- Adrian Frazier, George Moore, 1852-1933
They all seemed to be in their usual mood of precarious good humour which could splinter at any moment into invective and menacing gesture.
-- Alice Thomas Ellis, Pillars of Gold
One evening John Mitchell, slightly in his cups, let loose at Whalen with a mess of invective about writers, their inflated notion of their importance to political campaigns, and the need to keep them in their place.
-- Leonard Garment, In Search of Deep Throat
Political satire at the expense of governments or institutions is one thing. Personal invective is another.
-- Victoria Glendinning, Jonathan Swift: A Portrait
Invective comes from Late Latin invectivus, "reproachful, abusive," from Latin invectus, past participle of invehi, "to inveigh against."
 

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clamber \KLAM-buhr; KLAM-uhr\, intransitive verb:


1. To climb with difficulty, or on all fours; to scramble.
2. The act of clambering.
At one point a whole horde of them fell over a shallow cliff. Plumes of red dust rose in the air as they struggled to clamber back up.
-- Thomas Beller, The Sleep-Over Artist
It was nature's deep spring of sweet water that he fell into when he was just old enough to say a few words, reaching to retrieve his only toy, a tin cup -- and somehow did not drown but clambered out in time to meet his frantic mother racing down the path.
-- Roy Reed, Faubus: The Life and Times of an American Prodigal
They rowed decrepit whaleboats up and down the harbor and clambered up into the rigging of the ships.
-- Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea
He dithered for a moment, during which time Mrs Hardy, wailing like a banshee, rushed from the dining room and clambered clumsily up the stairs.
-- Beryl Bainbridge, Master Georgie
Clamber is from Middle English clambren, probably a modification of climben, "to climb."
 

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contravene \kon-truh-VEEN\, transitive verb:
1. To act or be counter to; to violate.
2. To oppose in argument; to contradict.
In 1620 most people considered the likelihood of reversing the seasons inside a building impossible, and many deemed it sacrilege, an attempt to contravene the natural order, to twist the configuration of the world established by God.
-- Tom Shachtman, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold
Anorexics, for example, clearly contravene our evolutionary dictate to eat.
-- Jerry A. Coyne, "Of Vice and Men", The New Republic, April 3, 2000​
Contravene comes from Late Latin contravenire, "to oppose," from Latin contra-, "against" + venire, "to come."
 

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eructation \ih-ruhk-TAY-shuhn\, noun:


The act of belching; a belch.
Ignatius belched, the gassy eructations echoing between the walls of the alley.
-- John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces
The explosion, at this distance, sounds like a faint, feeble eructation.
-- Peter Conrad, "Bangs to whimpers", The Observer, March 7, 2004​
Eructation comes from Latin eructatio, from eructare, from e-, "out" + ructare, "to belch."
 

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rejoinder \rih-JOIN-dur\, noun:


An answer to a reply; or, in general, an answer or reply.
I kept looking for exceptions to his pronouncements, flaws in his reasoning, my constant rejoinders to his critical remarks being "Yes, but . . ."
-- Richard Elman, Namedropping: Mostly Literary Memoirs
The comment immediately drew a sharp rejoinder from a friend.
-- Howard W. French, "Tokyo Displays Mixed Feelings at Premiere of 'Pearl Harbor'", New York Times, June 21, 2001​
Chance on an unbelieving clod, and the ultimate rejoinder is ready at hand: "Listen, dummy, it actually happened!"
-- Benjamin Cheever, "Like Watching Tennis", New York Times, August 17, 1997​
Rejoinder derives from Old French rejoindre, "to answer, rejoin," from re- + joindre, "to join," from Latin iungere, "to join."
 

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languid \LANG-gwid\, adjective:


1. Drooping or flagging from or as if from exhaustion; weak; weary; heavy.
2. Promoting or indicating weakness or heaviness.
3. Slow; lacking vigor or force.
Deliberately languid, slow to rise to a dignified height,his handsomely graying wavy hair perfectly combed, Floyd sitsmost of the day with his long legs sprawled under his table.
-- William S. McFeely, Proximity to Death
. . .in the languid heat of Rome, late summer, late afternoon.
-- Matthew Stadler, Allan Stein
With their strength, grace, and endurance, [they] move about naturally, freely, at a tempo determined by climate and tradition, somewhat languid, unhurried, knowing one can never achieve everything in life anyway, and besides, if one did, what would be left over for others?
-- Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Shadow of the Sun (translated by Klara Glowczewska)​
Languid comes from Latin languere, "to become faint or weak; to droop; to be inactive."
 

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agon \AH-gahn; ah-GOHN\, noun:


A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work.
Conflicts about moral claims are part of what it means to be human, and a political ideal stripped of sentimentality and the utopian temptation is one committed to the notion that political life is a permanent agon between clashing, even incompatible goods.
-- Jean Bethke Elshtain, Real Politics
It is the irresolvable love-hate agon between men and women that drives all cultures.
-- Lawrence Osborne, "False goddess", Salon, June 28, 2000​
Almost every poem Auden wrote in the weeks before and after his arrival in New York portrayed the agon of an artist in combat with his gift.
-- Edward Mendelson, Later Auden
Agon comes from Greek agon, "a struggle or contest." It is related to agony.
 

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disquisition \dis-kwuh-ZISH-uhn\, noun:


A formal discourse on a subject.
Hence, although the publisher calls Mr. Roth's work "An Essay on Evil in the Modern World," it will be found to differ materially in approach and manner of treatment from the usual disquisition on an ancient topic.
-- Percy Hutchison, "That Old Arch-Enemy of Man the Antichrist", New York Times, May 12, 1935​
Gore was partial to eye-glazing disquisitions on reciprocal trade.
-- Bill Turque, Inventing Al Gore
The treatises and pamphlets of the late eighteenth century about the reform of commerce were considered, very soon, to be disquisitions of only limited and technical interest.
-- Emma Rothschild, Economic Sentiments
. . .a rambling disquisition, with copious historical discussion and many anecdotes.
-- James McCourt, Delancey's Way
Disquisition comes from Latin disquisitio, from disquirere, "to inquire into, to investigate," from dis- + quaerere "to seek." It is related to inquire ("to seek into") and exquisite, which describes something that is "sought out" (ex-, "out") because of beauty, delicacy, or perfection.
 

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fractious \FRAK-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Tending to cause trouble; unruly.
2. Irritable; snappish; cranky.
In Marshall's case, the experience of dealing with a clamorous band of younger siblings, earning their affection and respect while holding them to their tasks, proved remarkably useful in later years when dealing with fractious colleagues jealous of their prerogatives.
-- Jean Edward Smith, John Marshall: Definer of a Nation
Marcus frequently took a rod to Ambrose's back--with the predictable result of making the boy even more fractious and slow to obey.
-- Roy Morris Jr., Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company
Fractious heirs drink too much and squabble over dock space for their sailboats.
-- Marilyn Stasio, review of Stormy Weather, by Carl Hiaasen, New York Times, September 3, 1995​
Fractious is from fraction, which formerly had the sense "discord, dissension, disharmony"; it is derived from Latin frangere, "to break."
 

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ratiocination \rash-ee-ah-suh-NAY-shun; rash-ee-oh-\, noun:
The process of reasoning.
For all their vaunted powers of ratiocination, grand masters of chess tend to be a skittery lot.
-- "People", Time, October 26, 1987​
The adventures of Sherlock Holmes proved so popular that it became a given that mystery tales should include a sleuth who investigates a murder or other crime, and by virtue of intelligence, ratiocination and perseverance solves a case that initially seemed unsolvable.
-- Maxim Jakubowski, "A beginner's guide to crime fiction", The Guardian, October 29, 1999​
There is no question that Joyce and Nabokov. . . brilliantly explored and expanded the limits of language and the structure of novels, yet both were led irresistibly and obsessively to cap their careers with those cold and lifeless masterpieces, "Finnegans Wake" and "Ada," more to be deciphered than read by a handful of scholars whose pleasure is strictly ratiocination.
-- "How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love 'Barry Lyndon'", New York Times, January 11, 1976​
Ratiocination is from Latin rationcinatio, from ratiocinari, "to compute, to calculate, to reason," from ratio, "reckoning, calculation, reason," from reri, "to reckon, to think."
 

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convivial \kuhn-VIV-ee-uhl\, adjective:
Relating to, occupied with, or fond of feasting, drinking, and good company; merry; festive.
The convivial atmosphere would continue on the way home, with a bag of toffees and more stories including, quite often, the story of How Grandpa Was Found.
-- "The foundling who got a life and a history", Times, January 6, 2000​
He hated to drink to excess, disliked convivial entertaining and had no gift for bonhomie.
-- Stella Tillyard, Citizen Lord
Young Sam, steeped in the family's endless storytelling, confessions, musings about their aspirations, and bickering about politics, seemed destined to become happy and convivial.
-- Andrew Hoffman, Inventing Mark Twain
Convivial comes from Latin convivium, "a feast, entertainment, a banquet," from conviva, "a table-companion, a guest," from convivere, "to live with, hence to feast with," from com-, con-, with + vivere, "to live."
 

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sotto voce \SAH-toh-VOH-chee\, adverb or adjective:
1. Spoken low or in an undertone, as not to be overheard.
2. (Music) In very soft tones. Used chiefly as a direction.
Behind the scenes, however, were sotto voce grumblings that Kohl was perhaps hanging on too long and that the party might be better off if he were to step aside and hand the candidacy to popular majority leader Wolfgang Schauble.
-- Jordan Bonfante, "The Challenger", Time, March 16, 1998​
Say it sotto voce, they say, knowing full well that to shout about it would invite ridicule.
-- Julian Muscat, "Classic case for a change of course", Times (London), April 24, 2001​
Inside the room, as she closed the door, the man winked at her: "I'm from the OSS," he said sotto voce. "I'm checking your room for 'bugs.'"
-- Elizabeth P. McIntosh, Sisterhood of Spies
Occasionally, to keep us amused, he mouthed bits at us: but sotto voce, in case there was a real Dutchman within earshot.
-- John Bayley, The Red Hat
Sotto voce is from the Italian: sotto, "under" and voce, "voice."
 

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nuptial \NUHP-shuhl; -chuhl\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to marriage; done or used at a wedding; as, "nuptial rites and ceremonies."
2. Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the mating season.
3. Marriage; wedding; nuptial ceremony; -- usually used in the plural.
The couple entered the town of Chalons, stopping on the way to listen to a concert (which must have been torture for Monsieur, who had no ear for music) and then heard a nuptial blessing from the Bishop.
-- Christine Pevitt, Philippe, Duc D'Orleans
Angela remembered vividly the mild indecorousness of the occasion -- not the usual nuptial jollity, but an oddly irreverent atmosphere, light and ungrateful.
-- Alice Thomas Ellis, The Sin Eater
The two ducks may never approach each other again, their species' habit being to put on flashy nuptial plumage and choose new partners every spring.
-- Mary Parker Buckles, Margins
As the bride and groom arrived, the city-issued clock registered five minutes to noon, just moments before the chapel would close, almost ensuring that, no matter how esteemed the couple, the nuptials would not be reported in the next day's papers.
-- Larry Tye, The Father of Spin
Nuptial comes from Latin nuptialis, from nuptiae "marriage, wedding," from the past participle of nubere, properly, "to cover, to veil," hence, "to marry," as the head of the bride was covered with a veil.
 

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parse \PAHRS\, transitive verb:
1. To resolve (as a sentence) into its component parts of speech with an explanation of the form, function, and syntactical relationship of each part.
2. To describe grammatically by stating its part of speech, form, and syntactical relationships in a sentence.
3. To examine closely or analyze critically, especially by breaking up into components.
4. To make sense of; to comprehend.
5. (Computer Science) To analyze or separate (input, for example) into more easily processed components.
6. To admit of being parsed.
We must learn to parse sentences and to analyse the grammar of our text, for, as Roman Jakobson has taught us, there is no access to the grammar of poetry, to the nerve and sinew of the poem, if one is blind to the poetry of grammar.
-- George Steiner, No Passion Spent: Essays 1978-1995
There are too many spots where the rhythm goes momentarily awry; where words are used with murk, sloppiness or phonetic imprecision; where sentences are so twisted around that they become hard to parse; even times where it's hard to be sure just who or what is being referred to.
-- Douglas Hofstadter, "What's Gained in Translation", New York Times, December 8, 1996​
The American Constitution, for example, says that "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech." . . . once we parse notions like "abridging" and "the freedom of speech," perhaps we will decide cases on the basis of an inquiry into two, three, or more relevant considerations.
-- Cass R. Sunstein, Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict
Parse comes from the Latin pars (orationis), "part (of speech)."
 

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jeremiad \jair-uh-MY-uhd\, noun:
A tale of sorrow, disappointment, or complaint; a doleful story; also, a dolorous or angry tirade.
This age in which leisure and letters were gilded with commerce did not see the decline and fall of art, despite the jeremiads of such artists as William Blake ('Where any view of money exists,' he prophesied, 'art cannot be carried on').
-- Roy Porter, English Society in the Eighteenth Century
Johnson's jeremiad against what he sees as American imperialism and militarism exhaustively catalogs decades of U.S. military misdeeds
-- Stan Crock, review of The Sorrows of Empire by Chalmers Johnson, Business Week, February 2, 2004​
Economics ministers in general were taken aback when a recent World Bank report -- after a year of jeremiads -- suggested the crisis was being exaggerated
-- Lance Castle, "The economic crisis revisited", Jakarta Post, April 1, 1999​
Jeremiad comes from French jérémiade, after Jérémie, Jeremiah, the prophet.
 

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ambuscade \AM-buh-skayd; am-buh-SKAYD\, noun:
1. An ambush.
2. To attack by surprise from a concealed place; to ambush.
But so great were his fears for the army, lest in those wild woods it should fall into some Indian snare, that the moment his fever left him, he got placed on his horse, and pursued, and overtook them the very evening before they fell into that ambuscade which he had all along dreaded.
-- Mason Locke Weems, The Life of Washington
The storm is distant, just the lights behind
The eyes are left of lightning's ambuscade.
-- Peter Porter, "The Last Wave Before the Breakwater"​
No more ambuscades, no more shooting from behind trees.
-- William Murchison, "What the voters chose", Human Life Review, January 1, 1995​
Ambuscade comes from Middle French embuscade, from Old Italian imboscata, from past participle of imboscare, "to ambush," from in, (from Latin) + bosco, "forest," of Germanic origin.
 

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abed \uh-BED\, adverb:


In bed.


When I lay abed as a boy in our ranch house, listening to those trucks growl their way up highway 281, the sound of those motors came to seem as organic as the sounds of the various birds and animals who were apt to make noises in the night.
 
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