Wiktionary:Word of the day/Archive/2016/August

1. (historical) Native American hostages taken by Russian colonists.

Stepan Glotov and his crew arrived at Unalaska, Alaska, on this day in 1759, bringing with them the Russian fur trade.

1. (British, India) A light midday meal or snack; luncheon.

The Government of India Act 1858 (21 & 22 Victoria, chapter 106) received royal assent on this day in 1858, ushering in the period of British rule in India known as the British Raj.

1. (firefighting) To ascend a building or wall using a ladder.
2. (of a knitted garment) To develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread.

1. A circumnavigation; a sea voyage around a coastline.
2. A record of such a voyage.

Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano, who completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, died on this day in 1526.

1. (idiomatic, almost always preceded by (deprecated template usage) the) The only opportunity, activity, or resource available.

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, begins today.

1. (rare, obsolete, modern uses probably humorous) Of or relating to the day before yesterday; very recent.

The Beatles’ song “Yesterday” was released in the UK on this day in 1965.

1. (idiomatic, plural only) People in a position of power or influence at a local level.

1. Want of quiet; want of tranquility in body or mind; anxiety, disturbance, restlessness, uneasiness.

1. (chiefly Singapore, derogatory) The tendency of some Asians to regard Caucasians as superior or more desirable, especially where marriage or relationships are concerned.

Today is Singapore’s National Day, which commemorates the nation’s independence from Malaysia in 1965.

1. (intransitive, colloquial, idiomatic) Not tell anyone; especially, keep silent about something that may be sensitive or secret.

1. (business wrestling) The portrayal of events within the industry as real; the portrayal of professional wrestling and the accompanying storylines as not staged or worked.

The American professional wrestler Hulk Hogan was born on this day in 1953.

1. (Australia, British, New Zealand, derogatory) The first, sparse beard growth of an adolescent.

Today is designated International Youth Day by the United Nations to highlight cultural and legal issues relevant to young people.

1. (US) A swimming pool, especially an indoor one; a building housing one or more swimming pools.

The women’s 50 metres freestyle swimming final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, takes place today.

1. (colloquial) A very short, unspecified length of time.
2. (computing) A unit of time defined by the frequency of its basic timer – historically, and by convention, 0.01 of a second, but some computer operating systems use other values.
3. (electronics) The length of an alternating current power cycle (1/60 or 1/50 of a second).
4. (physics) The time taken for light to travel a specified distance in a vacuum, usually one centimetre, but sometimes one foot or the width of a nucleon.

The men’s 100 metres sprint final of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, takes place today.

1. (India) A groom, or servant with responsibility for the horses.
2. (Malaya, dated) usually syce: chauffeur, driver.

Today is India's Independence Day.

1. (neologism) In a state of enjoyable unemployment.

1. A dockworker involved in loading and unloading cargo.

1. (transitive, British) To clean (a room, etc.) with a vacuum cleaner, irrespective of brand.
2. (intransitive, British) To use a vacuum cleaner, irrespective of brand.
3. (transitive) To suck in or inhale, as if by a vacuum cleaner.

William Henry “Boss” Hoover, who founded The Hoover Company with his son Herbert William Hoover, Sr., was born on this day in 1849.

1. (astronomy, cosmology, physics, now chiefly historical) In the Big Bang theory, the hot and dense plasma which made up the cosmos at the time of recombination in an early stage of its expansion and cooling, when the first atoms formed and photons decoupled. The ylem is regarded as the source of the cosmic microwave background.

George Gamow, who co-authored the 1948 paper with Ralph Asher Alpher and Hans Bethe which first used the term ylem in this context, died on this day in 1968.

1. (zoology) An animal that feeds on pollen; a palynivore.

Today is National Honey Bee Day in the United States in 2016.

1. (sports) An extra lap of the race track taken after the conclusion of a race.
2. (US, education, slang) One or more years of study beyond the traditional four taken to complete one's undergraduate degree.

On today, the last day of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the marathon event takes place.

1. Of questionable taste or morality; decadent.
2. Not reputable or decent.
3. Unconventional and slightly disreputable in an attractive manner; raffish, rakish.

1. A bag or bladder to hold a reservoir of gas, as in a hot-air balloon.
2. (figuratively) A person who is overly garrulous or prone to making empty, unsupportable statements; a windbag.

1. (botany) The eye of a bean or other seed; the mark or scar at the point of attachment of an ovule or seed to its base or support.
2. (botany) The nucleus of a starch grain.
3. (anatomy) A depression or fissure through which ducts, nerves, or blood vessels enter and leave a gland or organ; a porta.

1. Unrestrained, not held back.
2. Not examined for accuracy, efficiency, etc.
3. (chiefly computing) Of a check box: not checked (ticked or enabled).
4. (crosswording) Of a square: part of only one entry (that is, across or down, but not both).

1. (humorous) Synonym of on it (actively working to solve a problem, etc.)

1. A fortification or barrier such as a small earthen mound or ridge, a file of troops, etc.

1. (chiefly Eastern Orthodoxy) often Mandylion: the Image of Edessa, a holy relic consisting of a piece of cloth upon which an image of the face of Jesus Christ had been miraculously imprinted without human intervention (that is, an acheiropoieton); an artistic depiction of this relic.

The feast of the mandylion, which commemorates its translation from Edessa to Constantinople in 944, is observed by the Eastern Orthodox Church on this day (August 16 of the Julian calendar).

1. (Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) To boast.
2. (Northern Ireland) To skim or slide along a surface.
3. (Scotland, slang) To slip, such as on ice.
4. (Scotland, slang) To drink a large amount of alcohol.
5. (archaic, vulgar) To defecate, to shit.

1. A dreary bog or marsh.
2. (figuratively) A state of disheartening hopelessness.

English writer and preacher John Bunyan, whose 1678 book The Pilgrim's Progress is the source of this term, died on this day in 1688.