• efferent • Pronunciation: ef -ê-rênt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Directed away from, carrying outwards; discharging, especially motor nerve impulses conducted away from the brain to an effector (muscle, organ, gland). Notes: This word is the antonym of afferent "directed to...

The local tribes thought the idea of "owning" the land not only incomprehensible,

Buffalo Bill Cody testified before Congress that owning land was comparable to the European's understanding of owning sky.

• cartoon • Pronunciation: kahr- tun • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A satirical drawing intended to amuse viewers, a drawn or painted caricature. 2. A comic strip. 3. An animated movie or video. 4. A preparatory drawing for a painting, poster, or print, a preliminary sketch. Notes: Her...

• shudder • Pronunciation: shêd -êr • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive (No direct object) Meaning: 1. To tremble or shiver convulsively, as from dread, cold or disgust. 2. To vibrate violently, shake mightily, as an aircraft might shudder when it hits an air pocket. Notes: This word is a...

• concord • Pronunciation: kahn -kord • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass (No plural) Meaning: 1. Harmony, agreement, consonance. 2. A treaty establishing peaceful relations between two parties. 3. (Linguistics) Grammatical agreement. 4. (Music) A combination of notes pleasing to the ear, requiri...

• dastard • Pronunciation: dæs -têrd • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: An underhanded villain, a nasty poltroon, a knave who is rotten to the core. Notes: Today's noun has an adjective, dastardly, and a noun, dastardliness, the stuff dastards are made of. We bring this word up today because ...

• cadge • Pronunciation: kæj • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb Meaning: (Colloquial) To mooch, bum, sponge, or beg; to panhandle. Notes: Today's Good Word is used more in Britain than in the US. In the US we use mooch in pretty much the same sense. Even in Britain it is a bit old-fashioned according ...

• hospitable • Pronunciation: hahs- pit -ê-bêl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Friendly, sociable, cordial, welcoming, as 'a hospitable host'. 2. Open-minded, receptive, as 'a hospitable reception of new ideas'. 3. Agreeable, favorable, far from hostile, as 'a hospitable discussion...

• victim • Pronunciation: vik -têm • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: Anyone or anything that suffers some misfortune. Notes: This word has the broad, general meaning above rather than the three or four definitions listed in most other dictionaries. It comes with a negative adjective, victiml...

• spanner • Pronunciation: spæn -êr • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A tool for manipulating nuts and bolts, a wrench (US), 2. A Y-shaped tool with two hooks, holes, or pins at its top ends that fit for twisting a receptive object. Notes: Here is a widely used English word with definitio...

However, welcome to the suggestion booth in the Agora, Drew. Next time check the Good Word dictionary or do a search in the Agora. Your suggestion was a good one, as our running it as a Good Word reflects.

• epicene • Pronunciation: ep-ê-seen • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Having characteristics of the other sex, especially effeminate, dandyish. 2. Androgynous, bisexual, transsexual, suitable for or having characteristics of both sexes, unisex. 3. Having characteristics of neither s...

• despicable • Pronunciation : di- spik -ê-bêl, des -pi-kê-bêl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: That should be despised, deserving scorn, vile, contemptible, repulsive. Notes: This word wandered so far away from its origin, despise, that some folks are resorting to despisable in its pl...

• billet-doux • Pronunciation: bee-lay- du • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: No, today's word does not refer to nice lodgings for soldiers (but see the Notes). In fact, it is a term meaning "a short love note" or "love letter" used by die-hard romantics. Notes: Today's ro...

• aposiopesis • Pronunciation: æ-pê-sai-ê- pee -sis • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: A sudden breaking off of a thought in mid sentence, as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to continue. Notes: Have you ever begun a sentence and, halfway through, suddenly realize you shouldn't be ...