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A aggravate – Some have argued that this word should not be used in the sense of "to annoy" or "to oppress", but only to mean "to make worse". According to AHDI, the use of "aggravate" as "annoy" occurs in English as far back as the 17th century. In Latin, from which the word was borrowed, both meanings were used. Sixty-eight percent of AHD4's usage panel approves of its use in "It's the ...
Suit is a noun meaning an article of clothing; it is also a verb meaning to make/be appropriate. Suite is a noun meaning a set of things forming a series or set. [109] Standard: He got dressed in his new suit. Standard: Before leaving the hotel suite, she checked her lipstick in the mirror. Non-standard: That wall color will suite our apartment ...
An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. [1] Such words usually have a prefix or suffix that would imply that there is an antonym, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite. If the prefix or suffix is negative, such as 'dis-' or '-less', the word can ...
Some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language) because etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, connotations, ambiguous meanings, usage, and so on make them unique. [6] Different words that are similar in meaning usually differ for a reason: feline is more formal than cat ...
Aesthetic-formal reasons (i.e., avoidance of words that are phonetically similar or identical to negatively associated words) Communicative-formal reasons (i.e., abolition of the ambiguity of forms in context, keyword: "homonymic conflict and polysemic conflict") Wordplay/punning; Excessive length of words
In any technical subject, words commonly used in everyday life acquire very specific technical meanings, and confusion can arise when someone is uncertain of the intended meaning of a word. This article explains the differences in meaning between some technical terms used in economics and the corresponding terms in everyday usage.
(informal) a look, reconnoître "I'll take a dekko at it later." – British military slang derived from the Hindustani dekh/dekho meaning "to see". Also less commonly decco, deccie, deek, deeks. dene wooded valley or seaside dune (mainly S W England) doddle something accomplished easily – "It's a doddle", meaning "it's easy". dodgems *
This is in fact an Old English partitive construction using the "quasi-substantive" adverb læs and the genitive worda ("less of words") (cf. plenty of words and *plenty words). When the genitive plural ceased to exist, less of words became less words, and this construction has been used since then until the present. [15]