#wordstolearn

WORD OF THE DAY Mon, May 10, 2021 OED Word of the Day: astrobotany, n. The branch of botany concerned with the discovery or study of plant life on other planets or in space.

"A department of astrobotany was founded by the Kazakh Academy of Sciences and its director, Gavril Tikhov, publicized the possibilities of life on Mars and Venus." - 2007, B. Harvey Soviet & Russ. Lunar Explor. i. 12

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WORD OF THE DAY Sunday, January 9, 2022 OED Word of the Day: ghostbuster, n. A person who investigates or deals with supposed paranormal activity or phenomena.

SENTENCE EXAMPLE "‘The smartphone has really accelerated the field of paranormal investigation,’ he says... Other ghostbusters say the digital applications have the potential to open new avenues for tracking spirits." - 2011, Wall St. Jrnl. 29 Oct. a12/2

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WORD OF THE DAY Saturday, January 8, 2022 OED Word of the Day: up a daisy, int. Used to express encouragement or reassurance, typically when assisting someone (esp. a child) to overcome a physical obstacle, recover from a fall, etc., or when lifting a child into the air.

SENTENCE EXAMPLE "Up a daisy!..still in common use in the West Midlands." - 2001, C. Chinn & S. Thorne Proper Brummie 212

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WORD OF THE DAY Friday, December 7, 2022 OED Word of the Day: driving box, n. The seat on which the driver of a horse-drawn carriage sits.

SENTENCE EXAMPLE "‘Try the right side of the road!’ Someone shrilled from the driving box, loud enough that his words could be heard in the carriage." - 1998, K. Reimann Tremor in Bitter Earth xviii. 316

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WORD OF THE DAY Thursday, January 6, 2021 OED Word of the Day: belongingness, n. The state or condition of belonging; an instance of this.

SENTENCE EXAMPLE "A belief in ‘belongingness’ as the ultimate need of every individual. - 2002, D. Goleman et al." Business: Ultimate Resource 935/1

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WORD OF THE DAY Wednesday, January 5, 2021 OED Word of the Day: hagfish, n. A razor shell.

SENTENCE EXAMPLE "A Pirot, or Pitot (in some places called a Hag-fish) shell: it is a round shell like a finger, which in Latine is termed Vnguis Marinus; the Sea Finger shell." - 1688, R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xiv. 339/2

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WORD OF THE DAY Monday, January 3, 2021 OED Word of the Day: hagiologist, n. A writer of a hagiography, or an account of the life of a saint; a hagiographer.

SENTENCE EXAMPLE "Some of the legends in the compilation should be of as great interest to folklorists and literary scholars as they are to hagiologists." - 2006, Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 105 574

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WORD OF THE DAY Sunday, January 2, 2022 OED Word of the Day: limbo, v. To dance or participate in the limbo. Also in extended use: to bend backwards to pass under something.

SENTENCE EXAMPLE "I had limboed arthritically into the ludicrously low-slung seat of a Ferrari 488 Spider." - 2019, Scottish Daily Mail (Nexis) 19 Sept. 60

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