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Definition 1: Communicable; able to carry or transmit disease.[@more@]Usage 1: In a strict sense, and in keeping with its etymology, "contagious" is used to describe diseases that are transmitted by close contact, in contrast to "infectious" diseases, transmitted by air or water: SARS is infectious; AIDS is contagious. In common usage, however, "infectious" and "contagious" are considered synonymous. Something contagious is a "contagion"; it exhi

Definition 1: A waterhole near a stream filled only during floods. Definition 2: A part of a river or creek that dries up after the rainy season.[@more@]Usage 2: A common term in Australia but not used in Great Britain or North America. Suggested usage: Usage in Australia is usually pretty narrow and usage elsewhere in the English-speaking world would be a ground-breaking event. If you really want to break new ground, test something like: "1985 was a positive billabong for Fran in an otherw

Definition 1: To tidy up, put on the finishing touches, to primp; to spruce up, decorate.[@more@]Usage 1: As you use today's word, be careful not to confuse it with titillate "to excite as though by tickling," a mistake made by no one less than Dylan Thomas, who wrote in one of his letters: "Even now twelve heartfelt pages are titivating the senses of a Dead Letter superintendent." Even were the letter written in one of his sessions at the pub, the verb here should have been

Definition 1: Mischief-joy, pleasure in the misfortune of others. [@more@]Usage 1: This word is so typically German, that there is little to be done with it. It doesn't even double as its own adjective felicitously. Just keep in mind that "sh" in German is spelled "sch" and that the vowels in "Freude" are pronounced like "Freud." Suggested usage: We suggest avoidance this word and the experience that accompanies it. Schadenfreude is a base substitute for p

Definition 1: To leap and spring about joyfully, to frisk and frolic about without a care.[@more@]Usage 1: In the third act of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1590) Titania urges, "Be kind and courteous to this gentleman; Hop in his walks and gambol in his eyes; Feed him with apricocks and dewberries, With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries." In the US we no longer double the [l] when adding suffixes like –ed (gamboled), –ing (gamboling), and –er (gamboler) but dou

Definition 1: (1) To regain or cause someone to regain consciousness from sleep; (2) to become aware of something previously ignored. [@more@]Usage 1: The first usage problem associated with today's word is its forms; they are: wake (they wake up), woke (they woke up), woken (they have woken up); its mate, "awake," conjugates similarly: "awake, awoke, awoken." Two other, more poetic variants of this same verb are "waken" and "awaken," both regular ([a]wake

Definition 1: Any creature that eats only plants and vegetables.[@more@]Usage 1: This word is sometimes pronounced without the initial "h" ['êr-bê-vor] in the US because the one word preserving the English Cockney loss of initial "h" in the US the word "herb", pronounced [êrb]. Using "an" before "historical" and dropping the initial "h" in that word (but not "history") is a similar error that has also crept into US spoken E

Definition 1: To pacify or restrain by making concessions, especially at the price of principles.[@more@]Usage 1: The verb may be used simply to imply "pacify," but it usually carries the political overtones of buying off a powerful adversary: "The Bush organization appeased far right with his choice of Cheney as a running mate." Suggested usage: Like all yourDictionary Words of the Day, this one begs for wider metaphoric application: "The hotdog wasn't enough to appease

Definition 1: Coming before the next to last in a series. ("In" is the antepenultimate word in the previous sentence.) The noun is antepenult [æn-te-'pee-nêlt].[@more@]Usage 1: In rare cases, a single word is less efficient than several. This is one of those cases. It is easier to say "third from the end" than it is to say "antepenultimate" and you might be misunderstood if you use today's word. But still, this is a good piece to have in your lexical holster

Definition 1: A military incendiary device for blowing up gates and city walls.Definition 2: A firecracker that explodes with a loud report. [@more@]Usage 2: It is common to repeat Shakespeare's famous metaphor from Hamlet, "hoist with one's own petar(d)" (to be hurt by one's own schemes) without knowing exactly what a "petard" is. We bet the image is funnier than most English-speakers think. Suggested usage: Remember that a petard is an explosive device and you will be able

Definition 1: Any sweet food or sweetened medicinal preparation; a piece of fine craftsmanship.[@more@]Usage 1: The verb "confect" still means "to prepare by mixing ingredients," so the noun may refer to anything concocted of several ingredients or the process of concocting itself. But "confectionery shops" now are establishments where only sweetmeats ("meat" originally meant "food") are sold, though it more often referred to apothecary shops in

Definition 1: Rumor; a fanciful or apocryphal story.[@more@]Usage 1: The plural is "furphies" and no verb or adjective has sprung from today's noun although you may use the word itself as either one (I'm not furphying you). It is a noun that was commonized from a proper noun (see Etymology) and hence it is now spelled with a lower case "f." Suggested usage: yourDictionary is constantly on guard for words and phrases to help anyone seriously trying to kick the profanity habit.

Definition 1: Cargo thrown out of a ship or plane to lighten it. [@more@]Usage 1: In maritime law, "flotsam" refers to the remains of a shipwreck while "jetsam" refers to cargo or other material cast overboard. The two, however, are used in conjunction with each other today (flotsam and jetsam) to refer to any collection of random, useless objects. Suggested usage: Think of jetsam in its new sense as something of no value thrown out for whatever reason: "When the economy

Definition 1: A chopped or ground beef patty, a ground beef patty sandwiched between bread.[@more@]Usage 1: Today's word has been subjected to some heavy linguistic artillery. First, it was reanalyzed from hamburg+er (see Etymology) to ham+burger while at the same time undergoing clipping to simply "burger." The reanalysis as a compound allowed substitutions for the misperceived "ham", e.g. "cheeseburger," "fishburger," "turkeyburger," ad infinit

Definition 1: Much, a great many, a large amount; large, great (Scots English). [@more@]Usage 1: Usage of today's word tapered off over the course of the 20th Century even in its last stronghold, Scotland, always the land of fascinating words. An older variant of this word is "mickle." In the Eve of St. Agnes (xiv) Keats pleads, "Let me laugh awhile, I've mickle time to grieve." Most Scots today would probably prefer using "muckle," as did Frank Kippax as recently a

Definition 1: The Western name of a man born in Bethlehem some 2003 years ago, a birth Christians throughout the world celebrate today. [@more@]Usage 1: Jesus Christ is believed by some to be the Son of God, by others to be his prophet but by all to be the source of Christian doctrine that continues its struggle against the evil of the world even today. The adjective is "Christian," which has a noun, "Christianity" referring both to the doctrine of Christ and all believers in

Definition 1: Having a full, rounded figure (usually of a woman). [@more@]Usage 1: Marilyn Monroe had a zaftig figure, as did the pin-ups of another generation. This word must be used sensitively but it is an impressive alternative to its synonym "Rubenesque." Suggested usage: Using this word you have to be careful that it is set in a positive context: "Ms Jones has a razor-sharp wit and a zaftig figure, a combination that some men find attractive." Etymology: From the Yiddis

Definition 1: To render or become putrid, rotten; to rot. [@more@]Usage 1: Today's word is a member of an imperfect word family. The 'mother' of this family is "putrid," the Latinate equivalent of "rotten." The noun for "putrid" is "putridity." The verb, however, is today's word rather than the expected "putridify." The adjective putrescent, which means "becoming putrid, putrefying," is also difficult to derive from "putrid" o

Definition 1: Quarrelsome, argumentative for no reason; given to opposing whatever is said or done.[@more@]Usage 1: The verb is "contend" (to compete for control, to challenge, to strive in opposition to). The noun "contention" is derived from the verb and "contentious" is derived from the noun. Do not confuse this word with "conscientious" (following the dictates of one's conscience, assiduous). Working conscientiously is a good thing; working contentious

Definition 1: An enormous appetite, uncontrollable hunger, ravenousness.[@more@]Usage 1: Be sure to make the initial [o] sound in today's word distinct; otherwise, it may well be confused with veracity "truthfulness." People noted for their voracity are quite distinct from those known for their veracity. The adjective from today's noun is "voracious" and the adverb "voraciously." Suggested usage: Today's word always refers to the appetite, so "a voracious appet