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A bocal, the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument; Crook (music), exchangeable section of a brass instrument Crook, the crozier carried by a bishop or abbot; Shepherd's crook; An angled stem used in securing a laid Devon hedge
When the antiphrasal use is very common, the word can become an auto-antonym, [3] having opposite meanings depending on context. For example, Spanish dichoso [ 4 ] originally meant "fortunate, blissful" as in tierra dichosa , "fortunate land", but it acquired the ironic and colloquial meaning of "infortunate, bothersome" as in ¡Dichosas moscas ...
A kakistocracy (/ ˌ k æ k ɪ ˈ s t ɒ k r ə s i / KAK-ist-OK-rə-see) is a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. [1]: 54 [2] [3] The word was coined as early as the 17th century, [4] and is derived from two Greek words, kákistos (κάκιστος, ' worst ') and krátos (κράτος, ' rule '), with a literal meaning of ' government by the worst ...
The thesaurus is integrated into the dictionary. Under each definition, various related words are shown, including: Synonyms; Antonyms; Hyponyms ('play' lists several subtypes of play, including 'passion play') Hypernyms ('daisy' is listed as a type of 'flower') Constituents (under 'forest', listed parts include 'tree' and 'underbrush')
By hook or by crook" is an English phrase meaning "by any means necessary", suggesting that any means possible should be taken to accomplish a goal. The phrase was first recorded in the Middle English Controversial Tracts of John Wyclif in 1380. [1] [2]
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Gullibility does not appear in Noah Webster's 1817 A dictionary of the English language, [12] but it does appear in the 1830 edition of his American dictionary of the English language, where it is defined: "n. Credulity. (A low word)". [13] Both gullibility and gullible appear in the 1900 New English Dictionary. [10]
The crooked man is reputed to be the Scottish General Sir Alexander Leslie, who signed a covenant securing religious and political freedom for Scotland. The "crooked stile" in the poem was the alliance between the parliaments of England and Scotland or the border between the two, depending on the source. "They all lived together in a little ...