songcraft: Word of the day for October 1, 2017

songcraft , n :
(music) The practice or skill of crafting or composing songs. Today is designated International Music Day by the International Music Council to promote musical art among all sections of society, among other things. It was established in 1975 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin, who was President of the Council at the time.

Picture of the day for October 1, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on October 1, 2017: Swine skeleton, after technique of bone maceration, on display at the University of São Paulo Museum of Veterinary Anatomy. http://ift.tt/2fzQqSJ

Picture of the day for September 30, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 30, 2017: Ceiling of the Sioni Cathedral, a Georgian Orthodox cathedral in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. The cathedral is situated in historic Sionis Kucha (Sioni Street) in downtown Tbilisi. It was initially built in the 6th and 7th centuries. Since then, it has been destroyed by foreign invaders and reconstructed several times. The current church is based on a 13th-century version with some changes from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Sioni Cathedral was the main Georgian Orthodox Cathedral and the seat of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia until the Holy Trinity Cathedral was consecrated in 2004. http://ift.tt/2kah4GT

bombast: Word of the day for September 30, 2017

bombast , n :
(archaic) Cotton, or cotton wool. (archaic) Cotton, or any soft, fibrous material, used as stuffing for garments; stuffing, padding. (figuratively) High-sounding words; language above the dignity of the occasion; a pompous or ostentatious manner of writing or speaking.

Picture of the day for September 29, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 29, 2017: Fresco in the dome of Maria Taferl Basilica (Lower Austria) by Antonio Beduzzi (1714-1718): Life and assumption of Mary http://ift.tt/2fBLLTZ

whopping: Word of the day for September 29, 2017

whopping , adj :
(colloquial) Exceptionally great or large.

Picture of the day for September 28, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 28, 2017: Black-headed weaver (Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi) male, in his breeding plumage, building a nest in Uganda. Females choose a mate based on their nest-weaving skills. http://ift.tt/2yuleM2

medicaster: Word of the day for September 28, 2017

medicaster , n :
(dated, now chiefly literary) A quack doctor; someone who pretends to have medical knowledge.

Picture of the day for September 27, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 27, 2017: A sports car Lamborghini Gallardo during a race of Lamborghini Super Trofeo. http://ift.tt/2hz2uEj

Elysian: Word of the day for September 27, 2017

Elysian , adj :
Of or pertaining to Elysian or Elysium, the location. (idiomatic) Blissful, happy, heavenly.

Picture of the day for September 26, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 26, 2017: A new Type A36 tram on Lidingöbanan crossing Lidingöbron (the Lidingö bridge), Stockholm, Sweden on 24th October 2015. Lidingöbanan (the Lidingö line) was reopened on 24 October after being closed since summer 2013 for engineering works, modernisation and installation of new equipment. http://ift.tt/2hsohRJ

pie in the sky: Word of the day for September 26, 2017

pie in the sky , n :
A fanciful notion; an unrealistic or ludicrous concept; the illusory promise of a desired outcome that is unlikely to happen.

Picture of the day for September 25, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 25, 2017: Night view of the World Clock (Urania-Weltzeituhr), Alexanderplatz, Berlin, Germany. The 10 metres (33 ft)-high clock shows the time in 148 cities worldwide and was inaugurated in 1969. The clock has become one of the symbols of Berlin and is a popular meeting point for the people in the capital. http://ift.tt/2hsPWhI

exemplary: Word of the day for September 25, 2017

exemplary , adj :
Deserving honour, respect and admiration. Of such high quality that it should serve as an example to be imitated; ideal, perfect. Serving as a warning; monitory. Providing an example or illustration.

Picture of the day for September 24, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 24, 2017: Female cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa. To celebrate Heritage Day in South Africa (24 September). http://ift.tt/2fIcmLI

rainbows and unicorns: Word of the day for September 24, 2017

rainbows and unicorns , n :
(idiomatic) A wonderful (but often unrealistic) scenario.

Picture of the day for September 23, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 23, 2017: Maresenspitze (2,915 metres (9,564 ft)) in the High Tauern National Park near Mallnitz, Carinthia, Austria. http://ift.tt/2xYI8im

derisively: Word of the day for September 23, 2017

derisively , adv :
In a derisive manner; demeaningly, mockingly.

Picture of the day for September 22, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 22, 2017: Autumn in the hamlet Börnste, Kirchspiel, Dülmen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany http://ift.tt/29TttZU

imbongi: Word of the day for September 22, 2017

imbongi , n :
(chiefly South Africa) A praise singer, a traditional bard in Zulu culture. ‘Shaka’ kaSenzangakhona, also known as Shaka Zulu, who was one of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu Kingdom, died on this day in 1828.

olive branch: Word of the day for September 21, 2017

olive branch , n :
A branch of an olive tree offered as an emblem of peace. (figuratively) Any symbol of peace, or a peace offering to an adversary to show goodwill and in the hope of securing peace. […] Today is designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Peace, which is dedicated to world peace.

Picture of the day for September 21, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 21, 2017: Panoramic view of the Geghard Monastery and its surroundings, Kotayk province, Armenia. The monastery, recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site, was founded in the 4th century by Gregory the Illuminator at the site of a sacred spring inside a cave, whereas the chapel was built in 1215. http://ift.tt/2hkcEZn

moonsickle: Word of the day for September 20, 2017

moonsickle , n :
(poetic) A thin crescent of the moon.

Picture of the day for September 20, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 20, 2017: Dawn. A pond on the Tomashpilka river in the village of Komargorod. The first beams of the sun and fog over water. Tomashpil Raion of Vinnytsia Oblast. Ukraine. http://ift.tt/2jGfzzU

Picture of the day for September 19, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 19, 2017: View of Khor Virap, an Armenian monastery and one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Armenia located in the Ararat plain with the Mount Ararat in the background. Khor Virap's notability as a monastery and pilgrimage site is due to the fact that Gregory the Illuminator, religious leader who converted Armenia from paganism to Christianity in 301, becoming the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion, was initially imprisoned here for 14 years by King Tiridates III of Armenia. A chapel was initially built in 642 by Nerses III the Builder as a mark of veneration to Saint Gregory. Over the centuries, it was repeatedly rebuilt and the current appearance dates from 1662. http://ift.tt/2f6F88c

shiver my timbers: Word of the day for September 19, 2017

shiver my timbers , interj :
A mild oath expressing surprise, disbelief or annoyance. It is stereotypically regarded as being uttered by pirates. Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a parodic holiday invented in 1995 by John Baur (‘Ol’ Chumbucket’) and Mark Summers (‘Cap’n Slappy’), of Albany, Oregon, USA.

Picture of the day for September 18, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 18, 2017: Telamonia dimidiata male http://ift.tt/2wo4fyw

indyref: Word of the day for September 18, 2017

indyref , proper n :
(Scotland, informal) The Scottish independence referendum that was held on 18 September 2014.

animadvert: Word of the day for September 17, 2017

animadvert , v :
(intransitive) To criticise, to censure. (intransitive, obsolete) To consider. (intransitive, law, archaic) To turn judicial attention (to); to criticise or punish.

Picture of the day for September 17, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 17, 2017: Winged altar at the parish- and pilgrimage church Kefermarkt, Upper Austria. Anonymous master (Master of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece), around 1497. http://ift.tt/2xbV433

hombre: Word of the day for September 16, 2017

hombre , n :
(chiefly US, in Spanish-speaking contexts, slang) A man, a chap, a guy; especially a Hispanic or Spanish man. Today is Día de la Independencia (Independence Day) in Mexico.

Picture of the day for September 16, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 16, 2017: NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-126 on top flies over California's Mojave Desert on its way back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec 10, 2008. http://ift.tt/2wia4NW

loll: Word of the day for September 15, 2017

loll , v :
(intransitive) To act lazily or indolently; to recline; to lean; to throw oneself down; to lie at ease. (transitive) To hang extended from the mouth, like the tongue of an animal heated from exertion. (intransitive) To let the tongue hang from the mouth in this way.

Picture of the day for September 15, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 15, 2017: A rescue exercise by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Coast Guard in 2012. http://ift.tt/2x2iaXT

middling: Word of the day for September 14, 2017

middling , adj :
Of intermediate or average size, position, or quality; mediocre. (colloquial, regional Britain) In fairly good health.

Picture of the day for September 14, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 14, 2017: The Berca Mud Volcanoes are a geological and botanical reservation located close to Berca in Buzău County, Romania. The phenomenon is caused due to gases that erupt from 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) deep towards the surface, through the underground layers of clay and water, they push up underground salty water and mud, so that they overflow through the mouths of the volcanoes, while the gas emerges as bubbles. When the mud arrives at the surface, it dries off, changing the landscape in ways like you can see here. http://ift.tt/2wadGkX

contemporaneous: Word of the day for September 13, 2017

contemporaneous , adj :
Existing or created in the same period of time.

Picture of the day for September 13, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 13, 2017: Okayama Castle is a Japanese castle in the city of Okayama. The main tower was completed in 1597, destroyed in 1945 and replicated in concrete in 1966. In stark contrast to the white "Egret Castle" of neighboring Himeji, Okayama Castle has a black exterior, earning it the nickname "Crow Castle" or "castle of the black bird". http://ift.tt/2jm4BQc

Picture of the day for September 12, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 12, 2017: The Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. Built in 1930, at 450 ft (137 m) tall the building is the tallest state capitol in the United States. http://ift.tt/2wWNZDo

overstuffed: Word of the day for September 12, 2017

overstuffed , adj :
Filled beyond capacity.

Picture of the day for September 11, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 11, 2017: A soldier launches a FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile http://ift.tt/2wT9LGt

detritivore: Word of the day for September 11, 2017

detritivore , n :
(ecology) An organism that feeds on detritus; a saprophage.

Picture of the day for September 10, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 10, 2017: Ceriagrion cerinorubellum with a Lepidoptera as prey http://ift.tt/2vWuWtZ

from A to B: Word of the day for September 10, 2017

from A to B , prepositional phrase :
From one point to the next; from the beginning of a trip to the end.

reinvent the wheel: Word of the day for September 9, 2017

reinvent the wheel , v :
(idiomatic) To do work unnecessarily when it has already been done satisfactorily by others; to attempt to devise a solution to a problem when a solution already exists.

Picture of the day for September 9, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 9, 2017: A (pre-)daguerreotype incunable of photography: Steinheil's and von Kobell's picture of Munich's Neuhauser Straße with St. Michael's Church on the left side. This photograph was taken in July 1839 on silver chloride paper. http://ift.tt/2wOMIy0

Picture of the day for September 8, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 8, 2017: Night view with Christmas patterns of the facade of the town hall of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain. The building was built in 1799 over the former town hall building and is the result of 2 different stages: the first one, Neoclassical, started in 1799 by Torcuato Benjumeda, and a second one of Isabelline style, work of García del Álamo in 1861. http://ift.tt/2xQFqY5

split infinitive: Word of the day for September 8, 2017

split infinitive , n :
(grammar) An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb. The first episode of the original Star Trek television series aired in the United States on this day in 1966. A voiceover at the start included the phrase “to boldly go where no man has gone before”, which is often cited as an example of a split infinitive.

fester: Word of the day for September 7, 2017

fester , v :
(intransitive) To become septic; to become rotten. (intransitive) To worsen, especially due to lack of attention. (transitive) To cause to fester or rankle.

Picture of the day for September 7, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 7, 2017: A female Campo flicker woodpecker (Colaptes campestris) to celebrate Brazil's Independence Day (7 September 1822). http://ift.tt/2wHGobw

Picture of the day for September 6, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 6, 2017: Allegorical frieze bas-relief on Admiralty Building Central Frieze in Saint Petersburg, Russia. http://ift.tt/2gKfVoa

trope: Word of the day for September 6, 2017

trope , n :
(art, literature) Something recurring across a genre or type of art or literature, such as the ‘mad scientist’ of horror movies or the use of the phrase ‘once upon a time’ as an introduction to fairy tales; a motif. (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which words or phrases are used with a nonliteral or figurative meaning, such as a metaphor. […] (music) Musical senses. A short cadence at the end of the melody in some early music. A pair of complementary hexachords in twelve-tone technique. (Judaism) A cantillation pattern, or one of the marks that represents it. (Roman Catholicism) A phrase or verse added to the Mass when sung by a choir. […]

Picture of the day for September 5, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 5, 2017: Sculpture “Body and Soul” (Duk-Kyu Ryang, 2015) in front of the office building of the LVM Insurance, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany http://ift.tt/2ezxKCa

skitter: Word of the day for September 5, 2017

skitter , v :
(intransitive) To move hurriedly or as by bouncing or twitching; to scamper, to scurry. (intransitive) To make a scratching or scuttling noise while, or as if, skittering. (transitive) To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that it touches only at intervals; to skip, to skite.

Picture of the day for September 4, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 4, 2017: Dome in the interior of the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. The mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the oldest still standing buildings in Iran and it has been continuously changed its architecture since it was erected in 771 until the 20th century. http://ift.tt/2ewnzhs

ghit: Word of the day for September 4, 2017

ghit , n :
(Internet) Contraction of Google hit: a hit obtained using the search engine Google. The American Internet technology company Google was founded on this day in 1998.

Picture of the day for September 3, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 3, 2017: The Fairy of Eagle Nebula. http://ift.tt/2eQ6UpV

amateur hour: Word of the day for September 3, 2017

amateur hour , n :
(chiefly US, idiomatic) A situation or activity in which the participants show a lack of skill, sound judgment, or professionalism.

Picture of the day for September 2, 2017

Wikipedia picture of the day on September 2, 2017: The United States Capitol, often called the "Capitol Building" or "Capitol Hill", is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill, at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. http://ift.tt/2wuEMjJ

wigwag: Word of the day for September 2, 2017

wigwag , v :
To move gently in one direction and then another; to wig or wiggle, to wag or waggle. To oscillate between two states. (US, military, historical) To send a signal by waving a flag to and fro.