Wiktionary:Word of the day/Archive/2015/August

1. A trained clinician who operates the heart-lung machine during cardiac and other surgeries.

1. A pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting.

1. To persuade someone to do something which they are reluctant to do, especially by flattery or promises; to coax.

1. A cross placed at the site of a violent, unexpected death, in memoriam.

1. (prosody) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, two short and one long (e.g., the word velveteen).
2. (prosody) A fragment, phrase or line of poetry or verse using this meter, e.g., “Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT!” (Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957)).

1. (now archaic, historical) A dress that has been stained green from rolling in the grass; generally with allusion to sexual activity, especially a woman's loss of virginity.

1. To abscond or run away, especially to avoid paying money or debts.

1. (Manglish and Singlish) Placed at the end of a sentence either for emphasis or reassurance.
   • Don’t think so much lah!
   • It’s okay lah (It's all right. Don't worry about it.).

1. (US, idiomatic, sports) Technical matters concerning baseball not apparent to spectators.
2. (US, idiomatic, by extension) Matters of interest only to insiders.

1. (philosophy) Knowledge about knowledge itself.
2. (psychology, artificial intelligence) Knowledge about types, domains, functions, or preconditions of knowledge.

1. Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent, well-veined wings.

1. A mixture of cornstarch and water with unusual physical properties.

1. (transitive, obsolete) To set on fire; kindle.
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To take or catch fire.

1. A very direct or quick path or trip.
2. (mining, chiefly historical) A dynamite fuse made with a small quantity of dynamite powder along its length, so that the spark travels quickly and at a specific known rate.

Today is National Honey Bee Day in the USA in 2015.

1. A female tormentor.

1. (philosophy) The essence or inherent nature of a person or thing.
2. (law) A trifle; a nicety or quibble.
3. An eccentricity; an odd feature.

1. (computing) A cluster of standard personal computers linked by a local area network, usually of the order of 10 nodes.

1. A female prostitute; a woman who is very sexually active.
2. A female adulterer.
3. A mistress.
4. (derogatory) A trollop, a whore.

1. (informal) Inclusive of too wide a variety of features or items, typically with a resulting trade-off in efficiency or usefulness.
2. Of or pertaining to the kitchen sink drama; depicting social realities in an unstylized and direct manner.

1. (chemistry) The water present in the crystals of the salts of certain metals; it is weakly bound by electrostatic forces and may normally be removed by heating.

1. (Northern US) An earthworm, used as or destined to be used as bait to catch fish.

1. (Australia, New Zealand, informal, plural only) A style of tightfitting men's swimming costume cut like underwear briefs that covers the buttocks and groin but not the legs, especially worn in surf lifesaving and in swimming races.

1. The property of being, or that which causes something to be, resplendent.

1. (informal) Ill-tempered or annoyed.

1. One whose attitude is positive, optimistic, confidently affirmative.
2. (pejorative) One who habitually agrees uncritically.

1. The Melanesian cultural practice of relying on one's wantoks for any need, and of sharing the fruits of one's personal success with one's wantoks.

1. Release from slavery or other legally sanctioned servitude; the giving of freedom; the act of manumitting.

On this day, the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 of the United Kingdom received royal assent.