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Verb > Discombobulate Our word “discombobulate” is only a few hundreds years old. It probably arose as a slangy, silly version of a word like “disconcert” (meaning “to bother, to confuse, to throw someone out of whack”). When something discombobulates Read More …
Verb > Quash Quash and squash can mean the same thing. They look so much like because they come from different forms of the same Latin verb: quatere, meaning “to shake, or to strike.” definition: To quash something is to Read More …
Verb > Distill Sometimes the Oxford English Dictionary gets poetic. It defines our word distill as “to extract the quintessence of.” I love that: when you’re distilling something, you’re drawing out its quintessence: the parts of it that are purest, Read More …
Verb – Roil We’re not sure where the word “roil” comes from, but we’ve been using it since about 1590. To roil liquid things is to stir them up, making them muddy, dirty, or choppy. And to roil situations is Read More …
Verb – Exculpate This word has Latin roots meaning “to (clear) from blame.” To exculpate people is to free them from blame, guilt, or punishment, usually in an official, public way. Pronunciation: Either “EX cull pate” (my preference) or “ex Read More …
Verb – Yoke This word comes from Old English. Strictly speaking, a yoke is a device that fastens animals together so they can do work. And loosely speaking, a yoke is something that forces you down, or forces you to Read More …
Verb – Slacken Something slack is slow, loose, weak, or not strict. So, to slacken something is to slow it down or make it looser. And when something slackens on its own, it becomes slower, looser, weaker, or less strict. Read More …
Verb – Mollify This word has Latin roots that mean “to make soft.” We hardly ever use the literal sense of this word: “to make soft,” as in “to mollify rough hair.” Here’s Sylvia Plath: “Water mollifies the flint lip, Read More …
Verb – Instill This word has Latin roots that mean “to drop in.” Literally speaking, to instill something is to put it in one drop at a time. “Instill two drops of this medicine into each eye.” And figuratively speaking, Read More …
Here’s one of those basic verbs we all know, one that could be put to good use more often. “Fabric” and “fabricate” trace back to a Latin word meaning “artisan: person who creates things out of materials.” To fabricate things Read More …