Archive for the ‘the word defined’ Category

Words encountered that demanded of me a dictionary.

wayworn

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

(adj.)

weary with travelling.

word’s encounter: dictionary.com’s Word of the Day.

word’s use: wayworn was the man searching for a word’s definitive meaning.

adjure

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

(verb trans.)

urge or request (someone) solemnly or earnestly to do something: I adjure you to tell me the truth.

word’s encounter: Henry James’s Portrait of a Lady.

word’s use: I adjure everyone to avoid the use of adjure or abjure.

shebeen

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

(noun - esp. in Ireland, Scotland and South Africa)

an unlicensed establishment or private house selling alcoholic liquor and typically regarded as slightly disreputable.

word’s encounter: DA’s Friday cryptic crossword in The Age.

word’s use: a woman’s frequenting a shebeen may lead to bad puns.

abjure

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

(verb trans.)

  1. to renounce, repudiate, or retract, esp. with formal solemnity; recant: to abjure one’s errors.
  2. to renounce or give up under oath; forswear: to abjure allegiance.
  3. to avoid or shun.

word’s encounter: in confusion with adjure from Henry James’s Portrait of a Lady.
word’s use: I abjure one’s use of the rather ugly abjure