November 23, 2007

polymorphism

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DEFINITION: (noun) Crystallization of a compound in at least two distinct forms. SYNONYMS: pleomorphism. USAGE: Calcium carbonate possesses the characteristic of polymorphism, since it crystallizes as calcite or aragonite.
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November 22, 2007

furbelow

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DEFINITION: (noun) A strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim. SYNONYMS: ruffle, flounce, frill. USAGE: Those dresses are good, sensible, serviceable dresses, without any frills or furbelows about them, and they're all you'll get this summer.
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November 21, 2007

cicatrix

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DEFINITION: (noun) A scar left by the formation of new connective tissue over a healing sore or wound. SYNONYMS: scar, cicatrice. USAGE: It was clear from the cicatrix on his back that he had been punished at one time, but, whether as a slave or as a thief, we could not tell.
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November 20, 2007

inculcate

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DEFINITION: (verb) To teach (others) by frequent instruction or repetition. SYNONYMS: infuse, instill. USAGE: All of virtue and chivalry and true manhood which his old guardian had neglected to inculcate in the boy's mind the good priest planted there.
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November 19, 2007

profuse

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DEFINITION: (adjective) Plentiful; copious. SYNONYMS: lush, riotous, luxuriant, exuberant. USAGE: He wiped his forehead, which had broken out in profuse perspiration at the thought of the pain which he might have to inflict upon the poor soul.
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November 18, 2007

vagrant

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DEFINITION: (noun) One who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood. SYNONYMS: drifter, vagabond, floater. USAGE: When things started disappearing from their backyard, they began to suspect the vagrant who had recently been roaming the streets.
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November 17, 2007

impute

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DEFINITION: (verb) Attribute or credit to. SYNONYMS: ascribe, attribute, assign. USAGE: Keller, why does your article impute things to my father without the slightest foundation?
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November 16, 2007

periphrasis

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DEFINITION: (noun) A style that involves indirect ways of expressing things. SYNONYMS: ambage, circumlocution. USAGE: Parents often engage in periphrasis when discussing adult matters in the presence of their children.
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November 15, 2007

exigent

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DEFINITION: (adjective) Requiring much effort or expense; demanding attention. SYNONYMS: crying, insistent, clamant, instant. USAGE: The professor regarded literary questions as exigent and momentous.
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November 14, 2007

sophistry

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DEFINITION: (noun) A plausible but misleading or fallacious argument. SYNONYMS: sophism, sophistication. USAGE: Though they had all been taken in by the argument, they later claimed to have secretly known that it was pure sophistry.
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