Wiktionary:Word of the day/Recycled pages/May

1. (originally US, informal) An ordinary person who works in a non-management position, especially one who works for wages rather than a salary.

Today is celebrated as International Workers’ Day or Labour Day in many countries to recognize the achievements and contributions of workers.

1. (intransitive, soccer) To kick a football (soccer ball), especially during a free kick, in a manner which causes it to move in a curve rather than in a straight line.

Happy birthday, David Beckham! The English former professional footballer was born on this day 50 years ago in 1975.

1. (originally US) A person hired to carrying out errands or (often) menial tasks, frequently requiring travel from place to place; an errand boy or errand girl, a runner.
2. (originally US, journalism) A reporter who frequently travels to conduct research, interview witnesses, etc.

Today is World Press Freedom Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.

1. (slang, derogatory or humorous) An exceptionally hairy person.

May the Fourth – oops, the Force – be with you! Today is observed as Star Wars Day by fans of the franchise. English-American actor Peter Mayhew, who played the role of Chewbacca in the film series between 1977 and 2015, died on 30 April 2019.

1. (US, chiefly Austin, Texas) Especially of cuisine: of or pertaining to the country Mexico itself, in contrast to Tex-Mex (“a mix of Texan and Mexican”).

Today is Cinco de Mayo (“Fifth of May”), which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla on this day in 1862.

1. (also attributively) An act of investing with a crown; a crowning.
2. (specifically, also attributively) An act or the ceremony of formally investing a sovereign or the sovereign's consort with a crown and other insignia of royalty, on or shortly after their accession to the sovereignty.
3. (figuratively)
   1. A completion or culmination of something.
   2. A success in the face of little or no opposition.
4. (board games, rare) In the game of checkers or draughts: the act of turning a checker into a king when it has reached the farthest row forward.

The coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and Queen Camilla took place on this day in 2023.

1. (countable) A false accusation or charge brought to tarnish another's reputation or standing.
2. (uncountable) Falsifications or misrepresentations intended to disparage or discredit another.

1. Short for Victory in Europe Day: the date 8 May 1945 when Germany unconditionally surrendered its armed forces to the Allies, bringing World War II to an end; and each anniversary commemorating that date.

Today is VE Day, and marks the 80th anniversary of the end of Word War II in Europe.

1. A collection of organized things; a whole composed of relationships among its members.
   1. (derogatory) Preceded by the word the: the mainstream culture, controlled by the elites or government of a state, or a combination of them, seen as oppressive to the individual.
   2. (computing) A set of hardware and software operating in a computer.
   3. (mathematics) A set of equations involving the same variables, which are to be solved simultaneously.
   4. (music) A set of staves linked by a brace that indicate instruments or sounds that are to be played simultaneously.
   5. (physiology) A set of body organs having a particular function.
2. A method or way of organizing or planning.

Venezuelan orchestral conductor, educator, and politician José Antonio Abreu, who founded the non-profit classical music education programme called El Sistema, was born on this date 80 years ago in 1939.

1. (transitive) To generalize concepts or their application by using abstraction into a more usable form.
2. (transitive, by extension) To ignore, to omit.

1. Also more fully as brubru shrike: a bird in the bushshrike family found in sub-Saharan Africa (Nilaus afer).

Today, the second Saturday of May in 2019, is the first of the two World Migratory Bird Days in the year. These days were established by the Secretariats of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals to highlight the importance of protecting migratory birds and their habitats.

1. (chiefly Canada, US) A vague, feel-good platitude, especially one made by a politician, that few people would disagree with.

Today, the second Sunday of May in 2019, is celebrated in many countries as Mother’s Day.

1. (originally US, idiomatic, humorous, informal, dated) Used to ask someone what alcoholic beverage they would like to drink: what drink would you like to have?

Today is celebrated by some people as World Cocktail Day. On this day in 1806, the American journalist Harry Croswell, the editor of the Balance and Columbian Repository, defined a cocktail in his newspaper as “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters”.

1. (idiomatic) Doing something mischievous or scheming.

1. (obstetrics, veterinary medicine) A woman or female animal who is pregnant for the first time, or who has been pregnant once.

Today is designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Families to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.

1. Emitting much light; visually dazzling; luminous, lucent, radiant.
2. Of light: brilliant, intense.
3. Of an object, surface, etc.: reflecting much light; having a high lustre; gleaming, shiny.
4. Of a place: not dark; well-lit.
5. Of climate or weather: not cloudy or gloomy; fair; also, of a period of time, the sky, etc.: characterized by much sunshine and good weather.
6. (figuratively)
   1. Of a colour: not muted or pale; bold, brilliant, vivid.
   2. Of an object, surface, etc.: having vivid colour(s); colourful.
   3. Of a musical instrument, sound, or a voice: clearly audible; clear, resounding, and often high-pitched.
   4. Of a room or other place: having acoustic qualities that tend to cause much echoing or reverberation of sound, particularly at high frequencies.
   5. Of a scent or taste: not bland or mild; bold, sharp, strong.
   6. Of a substance: clear, transparent; also, pure, unadulterated; (specifically) of wine: free of suspended particles; not cloudy; fine.
   7. Glorious; illustrious.
   8. In good spirits; happy, optimistic.
   9. Of the face or eyes, or a smile: showing happiness or hopefulness; cheerful, lively.
   10. Of a person: lively, vivacious.
   11. Of a period of history or time: happy, prosperous, successful.
   12. Of an opportunity or outlook: having a reasonable chance of success; favourable, good.
   13. Of conversation, writing, etc.: imaginative or sparkling with wit; clever, witty.
   14. Having a clear, quick intellect; intelligent.
   15. (archaic)
       1. Of the eyes: able to see clearly; of eyesight: keen, sharp.
       2. Manifest to the mind as light is to the eyes; clear, evident, plain.
   16. (music) Of a rhythm or tempo: lively, upbeat.
7. (metallurgy) Of a metal object or surface: lacking any protective coating or surface treatment for the prevention of corrosion.

Today is the International Day of Light, which is recognized by the United Nations to emphasize the importance of light science and technology in sustainable development, and to celebrate the place of light in art, culture, and education. It marks the day in 1960 when the American engineer and physicist Theodore Maiman successfully fired the first laser.

1. (historical)
   1. (medicine) Of, pertaining to, caused by, or characteristic of cowpox.
   2. (by extension, immunology) Of or pertaining to cowpox as a source of material for vaccination against smallpox; also, of or pertaining to such material used for vaccination.
2. (archaic) Of, pertaining to, or derived from cattle or cows.

vaccine n

1. (immunology)
   1. A substance given to stimulate a body's production of antibodies and provide immunity against a disease without causing the disease itself in the treatment, prepared from the agent that causes the disease (or a derivative of it; or a related, also effective, but safer disease), or a synthetic substitute; also, a dose of such a substance.
   2. The process of vaccination; immunization, inoculation.
   3. (historical) Material taken from cowpox pustules used for vaccination against smallpox.
   4. (also medicine, obsolete) The disease cowpox, especially as a source of material for vaccination against smallpox.
2. (figuratively)
   1. Something defensive or protective in nature, like a vaccine (sense 1.1).
   2. (computing) A software program which protects computers against, or detects and neutralizes, computer viruses and other types of malware; an antivirus.

vaccine v

1. (transitive, archaic) Synonym of vaccinate (“to treat (a person or an animal) with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease”)

The British physician and scientist Edward Jenner, who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the world’s first vaccine—the smallpox vaccine, was born on this day in 1749.

1. (chiefly US, informal) Clumsy, oafish, or socially awkward; unattractive or unkempt.

1. An object such as a pillar or a rod that is used to tell time by the shadow it casts when the sun shines on it, especially the pointer on a sundial.
2. An object such as a pillar used by an observer to calculate the meridian altitude of the sun (that is, the altitude of the sun when it reaches the observer's meridian), for the purpose of determining the observer's latitude.
3. The index of the hour circle of a globe.
4. (geometry) A plane figure formed by removing a parallelogram from a corner of a larger parallelogram.
5. (mathematics, by extension) A number representing the increment between two figurate numbers (“numbers equal to the numbers of dots in geometric figures formed of dots”).

1. A building or other structure containing a (large) wheel, such as the water wheel of a mill.
   1. (automotive) The partially enclosed structure above and around a wheel of an automobile, typically partly formed by a portion of a fender panel that has been extended outward beyond the plane of the rest of the panel.
   2. (nautical) An enclosed compartment on the deck of a vessel such as a fishing boat, originally housing its helm or steering wheel, from which it may be navigated; on a larger vessel it is the bridge.
   3. (nautical) The enclosed structure around the paddlewheel of a steamboat.
2. (archaeology) A prehistoric structure from the Iron Age found in Scotland, characteristically including an outer wall within which a circle of stone piers (resembling the spokes of a wheel) form the basis for lintel arches supporting corbelled roofing with a hearth at the hub.
3. (Canada, US, baseball, by extension from sense 1.2) A pitch location which is favourable to the hitter.
4. (Canada, US, figuratively) A person's area of authority or expertise.

Today is European Maritime Day, which seeks to raise European citizens’ awareness of the seas and their importance.

1. The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing.

Today is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development or Diversity Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to highlight the value of cultural diversity and the need for people to live together in harmony.

1. (ecology) A place with a significant level of biodiversity, particularly if the flora and fauna are threatened with loss of their habitat.

Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity or World Biodiversity Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to promote awareness of the importance of biodiversity. The Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted on this day in 1992.

1. (transitive) To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or spiritless; to dull, to weaken.
2. (intransitive) To become dull, insipid, tasteless, or vapid; to lose life, spirit, strength, or taste.

1. (logic) The concurrence of multiple inductions drawn from different data sets.
2. The agreement, co-operation, or overlap of academic disciplines.

English philosopher and theologian William Whewell, who coined the word, was born on this day 225 years ago in 1794.

1. Open and not concealed or secret.

1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being a fact.
2. (uncountable, specifically, philosophy) In existentialism, the state of being in the world without any knowable reason for such existence, or of being in a particular state of affairs which one has no control over.
3. (countable) A fact that is not changeable or that is assumed to be true without further evaluation.

1. (transitive) To make a groove, hole, or mark in by scooping with or as if with a gouge.
2. (transitive) To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an unfairly or unreasonably high price.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To dig or scoop (something) out with or as if with a gouge; in particular, to use a thumb to push or try to push the eye (of a person) out of its socket.
4. (intransitive) To use a gouge.

1. (weaponry, obsolete, rare) The study of artillery; the practice of using artillery as a weapon.

1. A mountain in the Himalayas, on the border of Solukhumbu district, Koshi, Nepal and Tingri County, Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China; the world's highest mountain.

Mount Everest n

1. (figurative) An endeavour that is very demanding yet rewarding; also, a thing which is the highest achievement, challenge, etc.; the epitome, the pinnacle, the ultimate.

The mountaineers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who were members of a British expedition, became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest—the highest mountain in the world—on this day in 1953.

1. (informal, humorous, derogatory, often attributively) One who objects to the building of any structure in their neighbourhood, especially in public policy debate.

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To have a complex and apparently paradoxical nature; to be inconsistent, especially in a way that is ultimately admirable or noble.

The American poet Walt Whitman, from whose work “Song of Myself” (1855) the term derives, was born on this day in 1819.