Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Saturday, August 10, 2013 helter-skelter \HEL-ter-SKEL-ter\, adverb: 1. in headlong and disorderly haste: The children ran helter-skelter all over the house. 2. in a haphazard manner; without regard for order: Clothes were scattered helter-skelter about the room. adjective: 1. carelessly hurried; confused: They ran in a mad, helter-skelter fashion for the exits. 2. disorderly; haphazard: Books and papers were scattered on the desk in a helter-skelter manner. noun: 1. tumultuous disorder; confusion. The same obstacle appeared in a minor degree to cling about his verbal exposition, and accounted perhaps for his rather helter-skelter choice of remarks bearing on the number of unaddressed letters sent to the post-office… -- George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such, 1879 His enormous bellow of rage was the signal for Mrs. Hook to run helter-skelter down the alley to take up station in their traditional battleground at its entrance. -- John Moore, Portrait of Elmbury, 1945 The origin of helter-skelter is unknown, though it is perhaps onomatopoetic. It entered English in the late 1500s and employs a reduplicated rhyme similar to the words hurry-scurry and harum-scarum. Read the full entry | See synonyms | Comment on today's word | Suggest tomorrow's word Yesterday's word | Previous words | Help

Word of the Day for Sunday, August 11, 2013 kloof \kloof\, noun: (in South Africa) a deep glen; ravine. There are the sheer kloofs cut in the hills by the rushing rains of centuries, down which the rivers sparkle... -- H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines, 1885 Take any poor Tommy, out at his picket on the bare hillside or rocky kloof, either blistering in 104-degree heat or shivering under his waterproof sheet, and he could easily believe it so. -- Giles Foden, Ladysmith, 1999 Kloof came to English in the 1700s from the Dutch word meaning "cleft." Read the full entry | See synonyms | Comment on today's word | Suggest tomorrow's word Yesterday's word | Previous words | Help

Word of the Day for Monday, August 12, 2013 matador \MAT-uh-dawr\, noun: 1. the principal bullfighter in a bullfight who passes the bull with a muleta and then, in many countries, kills it with a sword thrust; a torero. 2. one of the principal cards in skat and certain other games. 3. (initial capital letter) a jet-powered U.S. surface-to-surface missile. He watched with disgust as the matador called to the bull. With a flamboyant flourish, the matador took over. -- Tess Uriza Holthe, The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes, 2007 The matador who was ill was careful never to show it and was meticulous about eating a little of all the dishes that were presented at the table.  -- Ernest Hemingway, "The Capital of the World," The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, 1936 ...the matador moved closer and now the animal bunched tired legs to run but one leg slipped throwing up a cloud of dust. -- Jack Kerouac, Lonesome Traveller, 1960 Matador entered English in 1600s directly from the Spanish matar meaning "to kill or wound." Read the full entry | See synonyms | Comment on today's word | Suggest tomorrow's word Yesterday's word | Previous words | Help