Word of the Day
vellicate
verb
to twitch.
Why the Museum of Science chose vellicate
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More about vellicate
Vellicate comes from Latin 惫别濒濒颈肠腻谤别, 鈥渢o pluck, twitch,鈥� from vellere, 鈥渢o pull, twitch.鈥� Though hairs may be plucked and skin may twitch, there is no connection between vellicate and vellum, a type of parchment made from animal skin, or vellus hair, the tiny hairs found on the human body. Vellicate was first recorded in English around 1600.
EXAMPLE OF VELLICATE USED IN A SENTENCE
After the morning coffee break, I noticed that my left eye began vellicating from all the caffeine.
ejecta
noun
matter ejected, as from a volcano in eruption.
More about ejecta
Ejecta is a form of Latin 脓箩别肠迟耻蝉, 鈥渢hrown out.鈥� 膾箩别肠迟耻蝉 is ultimately derived from the verb jacere 鈥渢o throw,鈥� which is the source of numerous English words containing the element ject-, including adjective (literally 鈥渢hrown toward鈥�), rejection (鈥渢hrown back鈥�), subject (鈥渢hrown under鈥�), and the Word of the Day disjecta membra. Ejecta was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.
EXAMPLE OF EJECTA USED IN A SENTENCE
The ejecta from the volcano included minerals from deep inside the Earth.
skijoring
noun
a sport in which a skier is pulled over snow or ice, by a horse, dog, or a motor vehicle.
More about skijoring
Skijoring is a slight alteration of Norwegian 蝉办颈办箩酶谤颈苍驳, which is composed of ski, 鈥渟ki,鈥� and 办箩酶谤颈苍驳, 鈥渄riving.鈥� Norwegian ski comes from Old Norse 蝉办墨迟丑, 鈥渟tick, snowshoe.鈥� 碍箩酶谤颈苍驳 is from Old Norse keyra, 鈥渢o whip鈥� and by extension 鈥渢o drive,鈥� after the use of whips to incite vehicle-pulling animals. Skijoring was first recorded in English circa 1910.
EXAMPLE OF SKIJORING USED IN A SENTENCE
The day after the blizzard, the ski lodge guests headed outside for sledding, snowshoeing, and skijoring in the deep snow.