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Vocabulary

Today's Word "encumbrance"

A burden or impediment on Aug 9, 2025

encumbrance \en-KUHM-brun(t)s\ (noun) - 1 : A burden, impediment, or hindrance. 2 : A lien, mortgage, or other financial claim against a property.

"Miss Twinkleton, madam, I have had a most satisfactory conversation with my ward, and I will now release you from the encumbrance of my presence." -- Charles Dickens, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'

Encumbrance is from Old French encombrance, from encombrer, "to block up," from en-, "in" (here used intensively) + combre, "dam, weir, hence hindrance."

More Vocabulary

Today's Word "hale"

Vocabulary / August 08, 2025

hale \HAYL\ (adjective) - Free from disease and weakening conditions; healthy.

"The person whom the traveller had so abruptly encountered was of this kind: bluff, hale, hearty, and in a green old age: at peace with ...Read More

Today's Word "concomitant"

Vocabulary / August 07, 2025

concomitant \kuhn-KOM-uh-tuhnt\ (adjective) - Accompanying; attendant; occurring or existing concurrently.

(noun) - Something that accompanies or is collaterally connected with something else; an accompaniment.

"She ...Read More

Today's Word "quandary"

Vocabulary / August 06, 2025

quandary \KWAHN-duh-ree; -dree\ (noun) - A state of difficulty, perplexity, doubt, or uncertainty.

"Now, he hesitated, facing a quandary. The quandary was not whether to kill the Ye-tai. That was no quandary at all." -- ...Read More

Keep Your Eye on 'Graveyard Shift' and 'Gimlet'

The Word Guy / July 30, 2025

We call an overnight flight from coast to coast "the red eye" because its passengers disembark with bleary, irritated eyes from lack of sleep. Such ocular fatigue also provides the origin of the term "graveyard shift."

One Good 'Turn' Word Deserves Another

The Word Guy / July 23, 2025

In ancient times, new words were formed at every turn.

When the Greeks won a battle, for instance, their victorious warriors would high-five one another and then begin assembling a memorial to their victory.

At the ...Read More