Friday 31 August 2012

Scab


SCAB

- noun
1. the incrustation that forms over a sore or wound during healing.
2. Veterinary Pathology . a mangy disease in animals, especially sheep; scabies.
3. Plant Pathology .
a. a disease of plants characterized by crust-like lesions on the affected parts and caused by a fungus or bacterium.
b. one of these crust-like lesions.
4. a worker who refuses to join a labour union or to participate in a union strike, who takes a striking worker's place on the job, or the like.
5. a despicable person
6. Metallurgy .
a. a projection or roughness on an ingot or casting from a defective mould.
b. a surface defect on an iron or steel piece resulting from the rolling in of scale.
7. Carpentry . a short, flat piece of wood used for various purposes, as binding two timbers butted together or strengthening a timber at a weak spot.
- verb (used without object)
8 to become covered with a scab
9. (of a road surface) to become loose so that potholes develop
10. to replace a striking worker

















Wooden scabs
Termites at work!

Thursday 30 August 2012

Segue


SEGUE

- verb (used without object)
1. to continue at once with the next musical section or composition (often used as a musical direction).
2. to perform in the manner of the preceding section (used as a musical direction).
3. to make a transition from one thing to another smoothly and without interruption.
- noun
4. an uninterrupted transition made between one musical section or composition and another.
5. any smooth, uninterrupted transition from one thing to another.






















Here
Numerical segue
Went awry

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Latibulum

LATIBULUM

-noun
A concealed hiding place; a burrow; a lair; a hole.






















Come this way,
They whisper
From the latibulum,
Come this way.
You know you shall
Anyway.

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Pitch

PITCH

- verb (used with object)
1. to erect or set up (a tent, camp, or the like).
2. to put, set, or plant in a fixed or definite place or position.
3. to throw, fling, hurl, or toss.
4. Baseball (a,b,c). Cricket (d). Golf (e)
a. to deliver or serve (the ball) to the batter.
b. to fill the position of pitcher  in (a game).
c. to choose or assign as a pitcher for a game.
d. to bowl (a ball) so that it bounces on a certain part of the wicket, or (of a ball) to bounce on a certain part of the wicket
e. to hit (a ball) steeply into the air, especially with backspin to minimize roll
5. to set at a certain point, degree, level, etc..
6. Music . to set at a particular pitch, or determine the key or keynote of (a melody).
7. Cards .
a. to lead (a card of a particular suit), thereby fixing that suit as trump.
b. to determine (the trump) in this manner.
8. to pave or revet with small stones.
9. Masonry .
a. to square (a stone), cutting the arises true with a chisel.
b. to cut with a chisel.
10. Informal . to attempt to sell or win approval for; promote; advertise: to pitch breakfast foods at a sales convention.
11. Informal . to approach or court (as a person, company, or the public) in hope of a sale, approval, or interest; make an appeal to.
12. to cause to pitch.
13. Obsolete . to set in order; to arrange, as a field of battle.
14. Obsolete . to fix firmly as in the ground; embed.
- verb (used without object)
15. to plunge or fall forward or headlong.
16. to lurch.
17. to throw or toss.
18. Baseball .
a. to deliver or serve the ball to the batter.
b. to fill the position of pitcher.
19 to slope downward; dip.
20. to plunge with alternate fall and rise of bow and stern, as a ship ( opposed to roll).
21. (of a rocket or guided missile) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillations of the longitudinal axis in a vertical plane about the centre of gravity.
22. to fix a tent or temporary habitation; encamp.
23. Golf . to play a pitch shot.
24. Informal . to attempt to sell or win approval for something or someone by advertising, promotion, etc.
25. Rare . to become established; settle down.
- noun
26. relative point, position, or degree.
27. the degree of inclination or slope; angle.
28. the highest point or greatest height.
29. (in music, speech, etc.) the degree of height or depth of a tone or of sound, depending upon the relative rapidity of the vibrations by which it is produced.
30. Music . the particular tonal standard with which given tones may be compared in respect to their relative level.
31. Acoustics . the apparent predominant frequency sounded by an acoustical source.
32. act or manner of pitching.
33. a throw or toss.
34. Baseball . the serving of the ball to the batter by the pitcher, usually preceded by a windup or stretch.
35. a pitching movement or forward plunge, as of a ship.
36. upward or downward inclination or slope: a road descending at a steep pitch.
37. a sloping part or place: to build on the pitch of a hill.
38. a quantity of something pitched or placed somewhere.
39. Cricket . the central part of the field; the area between the wickets.
40. Informal .
a. a high-pressure sales talk.
b. a specific plan of action; angle.
41. the specific location in which a person or object is placed or stationed; allotted or assigned place.
42. Chiefly British . the established location, often a street corner, of a beggar, street peddler, newspaper vendor, etc.
43. Aeronautics .
a. the nosing of an airplane or spacecraft up or down about a transverse axis.
b. the distance that a given propeller would advance in one revolution.
44. (of a rocket or guided missile)
a. the motion due to pitching.
b. the extent of the rotation of the longitudinal axis involved in pitching.
45. Also called plunge. Geology . the inclination of a linear feature, as the axis of a fold or an oreshoot, from the horizontal.
46. Machinery .
a. the distance between the corresponding surfaces of two adjacent gear teeth measured either along the pitch circle (circular pitch) or between perpendiculars to the root surfaces (normal pitch).
b. the ratio of the number of teeth in a gear or splined shaft to the pitch circle  diameter, expressed in inches.
c. the distance between any two adjacent things in a series, as screw threads, rivets, etc.
47. (in carpet weaving) the weft-wise number of warp ends, usually determined in relation to 27 inches (68.6 cm).
48. Cards .
a. all fours . a game for two or three players or two partnerships in which a 52-card pack is used, the object being to win special scoring values for the highest trump, the lowest trump, the jack, the ace, the ten, and the face cards.
b. auction pitch . a variety of all fours in which players bid to determine the trump or pitch.
49. Masonry . a true or even surface on a stone.
50. (of typewriter type) a unit of measurement indicating the number of characters to a horizontal inch.

- noun
1. any of various dark, tenacious, and viscous substances for caulking and paving, consisting of the residue of the distillation of coal tar or wood tar.
2. any of certain bitumen, as asphalt.
3. any of various resins.
4. the sap or crude turpentine that exudes from the bark of pines.
-verb (used with object)
5. to smear or cover with pitch.






















A dark pitch
With breathing holes
For what lurks behind.

Monday 27 August 2012

Viscid


VISCID

-adj.
1. cohesive and sticky; glutinous; viscous
2. (especially of a leaf) covered with a sticky substance






















Multiple reflections
Viscid visions tattooed on your skin
Unwashable stigma

Sunday 26 August 2012

Orectic

ORECTIC

-adj.
of or relating to the desires






















Simple orectic pleasures
Crunch and salt crystals

Saturday 25 August 2012

Scowl

SCOWL

-verb (used without object)
1. to draw down or contract the brows in a sullen, displeased, or angry manner.
2. to have a gloomy or threatening look.
- verb (used with object)
3. to affect or express with a scowl.
- noun
4. a scowling expression, look, or aspect.






















He scowls at my trying to capture him
Film as an infringement of his privacy

Friday 24 August 2012

Nostrum

NOSTRUM

-noun
1. a patent or quack medicine
2. a favourite remedy, as for political or social problems

















Year after year
A book has always been
My special nostrum

Thursday 23 August 2012

Gauntlet


GAUNTLET

-noun
1. a medieval glove, as of mail or plate, worn by a knight in armour to protect the hand.
2. a glove with an extended cuff for the wrist.
3. the cuff itself.

-noun.
1. a former punishment, chiefly military, in which the offender was made to run between two rows of men who struck at him as he passed.
2. the two rows of men administering this punishment.
3. an attack from two or all sides.
4. trying conditions; an ordeal.
5. Also: gantlet - Railroads . a track construction used in narrow places, in which two parallel tracks converge so that their inner rails cross, run parallel, and diverge again, thus allowing a train to remain on its own track at all times.
-verb (used with object)
6. Also: gantlet - Railroads . to form or lay down as a gantlet

















Though I’ve happily
Run the gauntlet of your love
The game left be battered
Draped in daze

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Noctuary


NOCTUARY

-noun
A record of what passes in the night; a nightly journal






















Earlier in life
I started a noctuary
The intention was a sktech book
Of dreams and visions
All pages went black

Postpositive


POSTPOSITIVE

-adj.
1. (of an adjective or other modifier) placed after the word modified, either immediately after, as in “two men abreast”, or as part of a complement, as in “those men are bad”
-noun
2. a postpositive modifier






















Lost in translation?
A case of misplaced postpositive.


Original background picture courtesy of Mondo Tiki Man

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Minor

MINOR

-adj.
1. lesser or secondary in amount, extent, importance, or degree.
2. of or relating to the minority
3. below the age of legal majority
4. music
a. harmonic minor scale See also melodic minor scale (of a scale) having a semitone between the second and third and fifth and sixth degrees (natural minor)
b. (of a key) based on the minor scale
c. (postpositive) denoting a specified key based on the minor scale
d. (of an interval) reduced by a semitone from the major
e. (of a chord, especially a triad) having a minor third above the root
f. minor key See also minor mode (especially in jazz) of or relating to a chord built upon a minor triad and containing a minor seventh
5. logic . (of a term or premise) having less generality or scope than another term or proposition
6. (US) education . of or relating to an additional secondary subject taken by a student
7. (Brit.) (immediately postpositive) the younger or junior.
8. (postpositive) bell-ringing . of, relating to, or denoting a set of changes rung on six bells
-noun
9. a person or thing that is lesser or secondary
10. a person below the age of legal majority
11. (US), (Canadian) education . a subsidiary subject in which a college or university student needs fewer credits than in his or her major
12. music . a minor key, chord, mode, or scale
13. logic . a minor term or premise
14. maths
a. a determinant associated with a particular element of a given determinant and formed by removing the row and column containing that element
b. cofactor  also called: signed minor . the number equal to this reduced determinant
15. (capital) another name for Minorite
-verb (usually followed by “in”)
16. (US) education . to take a minor
















These all important minors
Writing major music
Steady if discreet determinants


Background picture courtesy of Rishibando

Monday 20 August 2012

Chord


CHORD

-noun
1. maths
a. a straight line connecting two points on a curve or curved surface
b. the line segment lying between two points of intersection of a straight line and a curve or curved surface
2. engineering . one of the principal members of a truss, especially one that lies along the top or the bottom
3. anatomy . a variant spelling of cord
4. an emotional response, especially one of sympathy
5. an imaginary straight line joining the leading edge and the trailing edge of an aerofoil
6. archaic . the string of a musical instrument

-noun
1. the simultaneous sounding of a group of musical notes, usually three or more in number
-verb (trans.)
2. to provide (a melodic line) with chords






















Deserted roads
Dramatic shadows
The cry of cicadas
Summer chords for my memory

Sunday 19 August 2012

Viand

VIAND

-noun
1. a type of food, especially a delicacy
2. (plural) provisions


















Sweet viand
Stolen from the tree
Twice fragrant

Saturday 18 August 2012

Clinomania

CLINOMANIA

-noun
an obsession with bed rest

















Cats are known for a propensity,
A deep addiction, to clinomania

Friday 17 August 2012

Concert


CONCERT

- noun
1. a public musical performance in which a number of singers or instrumentalists, or both, participate.
2. a public performance, usually by an individual singer, instrumentalist, or the like; recital.
3. agreement of two or more individuals in a design or plan; combined action; accord or harmony.
- adj.
4. designed or intended for concerts.
5. performed at concerts.
6. performing or capable of performing at concerts.
- verb (used with object)
7. to contrive or arrange by agreement.
8. to plan; devise.
-verb (used without object)
9. to plan or act together.


















A banded raven
Concerts to draw tourists to him
With unusual behaviour.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Forgo


FORGO

-verb
1. to give up or do without
2. archaic . to leave























I forwent sewing years ago
But the sight of these old glories
Might draw me in once more

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Affront


AFFRONT

-verb
1.
a : to insult, especially to the face, by behaviour or language
b : to cause offense to
2. to face in defiance, confront
3. to appear directly before






















Trying to affront sleep
Finding no help in minute details
Like grazing sheep or lost stars

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Hew


HEW

-verb
1. to strike (something, especially wood) with cutting blows, as with an axe
2. to shape or carve from a substance
3. (trans.; often followed by “away”, “down”, “from”, “off”, etc.) to sever from a larger or another portion
4. (US), (Canadian) to conform (to a code, principle, etc.)























Flowers
Hewn from marble
Adorn forgotten graves

Monday 13 August 2012

Normal


NORMAL

-adj.
1. usual; regular; common; typical
2. constituting a standard
3. psychology
a. being within certain limits of intelligence, educational success or ability, etc.
b. conforming to the conventions of one's group
4. biology, medicine . (of laboratory animals) maintained in a natural state for purposes of comparison with animals treated with drugs, etc.
5. chemistry . N (of a solution) containing a number of grams equal to the equivalent weight of the solute in each litre of solvent
6. chemistry . denoting a straight-chain hydrocarbon Prefix: n-,
7. geometry . another word for perpendicular
-noun
8. the usual, average, or typical state, degree, form, etc.
9. anything that is normal
10. geometry . a line or plane perpendicular to another line or plane or to the tangent of a curved line or plane at the point of contact






















 Sleeping at the edge of normal
Absurd broken angels, grime of their toes
Sharing this alternative reality with us

Sunday 12 August 2012

Tracklement

TRACKLEMENT

-noun
any kind of savoury condiment served with meat






















In this heat
Cold meats are hungry
For fresh yet fiery
Tracklements and pickles

Saturday 11 August 2012

Pet


PET

-noun
1. any domesticated or tamed animal that is kept as a companion and cared for affectionately.
2. a person especially cherished or indulged; favourite.
3. a thing particularly cherished.
-adj.
4. kept or treated as a pet.
5. especially cherished or indulged, as a child or other person.
6. favourite; most preferred.
7. showing fondness or affection.
-verb (used with object)
8. to fondle or caress.
9. to treat as a pet; indulge.
-verb (used without object)
10.Informal . to engage in amorous fondling and caressing.

-noun
1. a fit of peevishness, sulking, or bad mood.
-verb (used without object)
2. to be peevish; sulk.






















Pet me!
Pet me!
Pet me!
Tiny cat
Huge needs

Friday 10 August 2012

Flocculent

FLOCCULENT

-adj.
1. like wool; fleecy
2. chemistry .aggregated in woolly cloud-like masses
3. biology . covered with tufts or flakes of a waxy or wool-like substance

















Flocculent clouds
Refusing rain
Parched grass unravelling

Thursday 9 August 2012

Subfusc


SUBFUSC

-adj.
1. devoid of brightness or appeal; drab, dull, or dark
-noun
2. (at Oxford University) formal academic dress






















Subfusc stairs
Missing a lounging cat
About... There.