Word of the Day - Agosto/August 2007

The Word of the Day for August 10 is:

maitre d' or maitre d' \may-truh-DEE\ noun: maitre d'hotel, headwaiter

Example sentence:
The maitre d' ushered the couple to a private table at the back of
the restaurant.

The Word of the Day for August 9 is:

transpontine \trans-PAHN-tyne\ adjective
*1 : situated on the farther side of a bridge
2 British : situated on the south side of the Thames

Example sentence:
Bella recommended a transpontine restaurant for our evening
rendezvous, so we took a cab across the East River from our hotel in
Manhattan and met her in Queens.

The Word of the Day for August 8 is:

aught \AWT\ pronoun
1 : anything
*2 : all, everything

Example sentence:
"Xury said it was a lion, and it might be so for aught I know."
(Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe)

The Word of the Day for August 7 is:

scaramouch \skair-uh-MOOSH\ noun
1 capitalized : a stock character in the Italian commedia
dell'arte that burlesques the Spanish don and is characterized by boastfulness
and cowardliness
2 a : a cowardly buffoon *b : rascal, scamp

Example sentence:
My great uncle was an untrustworthy old scaramouch.

The Word of the Day for August 6 is:

turbid \TER-bid\ adjective
1 *a : thick or opaque with or as if with roiled sediment b :
heavy with smoke or mist
2 a : deficient in clarity or purity : foul, muddy b :
characterized by or producing obscurity (as of mind or emotions)

Example sentence:
With alarm and dismay, Evelyn saw that the turbid floodwaters had
started seeping into her kitchen.

The Word of the Day for August 5 is:

peruse \puh-ROOZ\ verb
1 a : to examine or consider with attention and in detail : study
b : to look over or through in a casual or cursory manner
*2 : read; especially : to read over in an attentive or leisurely
manner

Example sentence:
Dmitri perused the menu while we waited for a table.

The Word of the Day for August 4 is:

nomenclator \NOH-mun-klay-ter\ noun
1 : a book containing collections or lists of words
*2 : one who gives names to or invents names for things

Example sentence:
Within days of her promotion, Jenna found herself in the role of
nomenclator, trying to name the company?s newest product.

The Word of the Day for August 3 is:

Walter Mitty \wawl-ter-MITT-ee\ noun
: a commonplace unadventurous person who seeks escape from reality
through daydreaming

Example sentence:
"Many readers seem to be Walter Mittys, content to experience
danger vicariously." (James Kelly, _Time Magazine_, August 19, 1985)

The Word of the Day for August 2 is:

deliquesce \del-ih-KWESS\ verb
*1 : to dissolve or melt away
2 : to become soft or liquid with age or maturity -- used of some
fungal structures (as the gills of a mushroom)

Example sentence:
Someone forgot to put the butter back in the refrigerator, instead
leaving it to deliquesce on the kitchen counter.

The Word of the Day for August 1 is:

august \aw-GUST\ adjective
: marked by majestic dignity or grandeur

Example sentence:
Mr. Lee's bearing was always august and stately, and he drew
respectful glances wherever he went.