word of the day :: turgid

turgid:

[tur-jid]

–adjective

1. swollen; distended; tumid.

2. inflated, overblown, or pompous; bombastic: turgid language.

  

Origin:

1660-70; < L turgidus,  equiv. to turg ( ēre ) to swell + -idus -id⁴

"'It is true that the rivers went nosing like swine,

tugging at banks, until they seemed

Bland belly-sounds in somnolent troughs,

That the air was heavy with the breath of these swine,

The breath of turgid summer, and

Heavy with thunder's rattapallax."

:: Wallace Stevens ::

* Definition from www.dictionary.com

word of the day :: cozen

cozen:

[kuhz-uh n]

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

to cheat, deceive, or trick.

  

Origin:

1565-75; perh. < ONF coçonner  to resell, v. deriv. of coçon retailer (< L coctiōnem,  acc. of coctiō, cōciō  dealer), influencedby MF cousin  dupe, lit., cousin

"'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.'

And well said too; for who shall go about

To cozen fortune, and be honorable

Without the stamp of merit."

:: William Shakespeare ::

Prince of Morocco in The Merchant of Venice

* Definition from www.dictionary.com

word of the day :: skylark

skylark:

[skahy-lahrk]

–noun

1. a brown-speckled European lark, Alauda arvensis, famed for its melodious song.

-verb (used without object)

2. to frolic; sport: The children were skylarking on the beach.

  

Origin:

1680-90; sky  + lark¹

"Tom took his whipping and went back to his seat not at all broken-hearted, for he thought it was possible that he had unknowingly upset the ink on the spelling-book himself, in some skylarking bout--he had denied it for form's sake and because it was custom, he had stuck to the denial from principle."

:: Mark Twain ::

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

* Definition from www.dictionary.com