WORD OF THE DAY
GLEAN \ GLEEN \ verb
Definition
1 : to gather grain or other produce left by reapers
2a : to gather (as information) bit by bit
2b : to pick over in search of relevant material
3 : to find out
Examples
Investigators have been able to glean some useful information from the seized documents.
"He won four gold medals in London on his talent and the experience he gleaned from three previous Olympics."
— Suzanne Halliburton, The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, 15 Jan. 2016
Did You Know?
Glean comes from Middle English glenen, which traces to Anglo-French glener, meaning "to glean." The French borrowed their word from Late Latin glennare, which also means "to glean" and is itself of Celtic origin. Both the grain-gathering sense and the collecting-bit-by-bit senses of our glean date back at least to the 14th century. Over the years, and especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, glean has also come to be used frequently with the meaning "to find out, learn, ascertain." This sense has been criticized by folks who think glean should always imply the drudgery involved in the literal grain-gathering sense, but it is well established and perfectly valid.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Friday, February 26, 2016
Keelhaul
WORD OF THE DAY
KEELHAUL \ KEEL-hawl \ verb
Definition
1 : to haul under the keel of a ship as punishment or torture
2 : to rebuke severely
Examples
Several key employees were keelhauled for an error that cost the company millions of dollars.
"Managers have been vilified, criticized and all but keelhauled for stocking teams with their own players in the past—or leaving a qualified pick off the team."
— Tom Gage, The Detroit News, 2 July 2007
Did You Know?
In the mid-1600s, British monarchs were intent on using their powerful navy to expand their empire. Insubordination was not tolerated, and mutinous sailors were disciplined severely to discourage others from similar rebellion. Keelhauling was one of the worst penalties that could befall a renegade mariner. Although they definitely practiced the gruesome punishment, the British did not invent it—the Dutch did. Keelhaul is a translation of the Dutch word kielhalen, which means "to haul under the keel of a ship." Even after the practice was banned on European naval vessels in the mid-1800s, the word keelhaul remained in English as a term for a severe scolding.
KEELHAUL \ KEEL-hawl \ verb
Definition
1 : to haul under the keel of a ship as punishment or torture
2 : to rebuke severely
Examples
Several key employees were keelhauled for an error that cost the company millions of dollars.
"Managers have been vilified, criticized and all but keelhauled for stocking teams with their own players in the past—or leaving a qualified pick off the team."
— Tom Gage, The Detroit News, 2 July 2007
Did You Know?
In the mid-1600s, British monarchs were intent on using their powerful navy to expand their empire. Insubordination was not tolerated, and mutinous sailors were disciplined severely to discourage others from similar rebellion. Keelhauling was one of the worst penalties that could befall a renegade mariner. Although they definitely practiced the gruesome punishment, the British did not invent it—the Dutch did. Keelhaul is a translation of the Dutch word kielhalen, which means "to haul under the keel of a ship." Even after the practice was banned on European naval vessels in the mid-1800s, the word keelhaul remained in English as a term for a severe scolding.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Quantal
WORD OF THE DAY
QUANTAL \ KWAHN-tul \ adjective
Definition
1 : of, relating to, or having only two experimental alternatives (such as dead or alive, all or none)
2 : of or relating to a quantum or to quanta (as of energy or a neurotransmitter)
Examples
"Many bioassays are based on quantal responses: Challenge assays record whether the subjects are dead or alive (or moribund or not moribund) at the end of the assay; seed-germination assays record whether seeds germinate by the end of the assay."
— Ann Yellowlees et al., BioScience, June 2013
"Suppose you shake a crib with a sleeping baby. If you shake it hard, the baby always wakes up. However, if you shake it gently, the baby might wake up. The waking up itself is a quantal event—the baby is either awake or asleep—but the probability of this happening depends on how hard you rock."
— Sönke Johnsen, The Optics of Life: A Biologist's Guide to Light in Nature, 2012
Did You Know?
In Latin, quantum is the neuter form of quantus, meaning "how much?" Both of these forms played a role in the development of quantal. The first sense of quantal, used in scientific experimentation to refer to cases in which only one of two possible results occurs, derived from quanti, the plural of quantus. (Quantus is also an ancestor of our noun quantity.) The second sense of quantal is more directly related to Latin quantum and the English noun quantum, which refers to the smallest possible unit of a form of energy (such as light).
QUANTAL \ KWAHN-tul \ adjective
Definition
1 : of, relating to, or having only two experimental alternatives (such as dead or alive, all or none)
2 : of or relating to a quantum or to quanta (as of energy or a neurotransmitter)
Examples
"Many bioassays are based on quantal responses: Challenge assays record whether the subjects are dead or alive (or moribund or not moribund) at the end of the assay; seed-germination assays record whether seeds germinate by the end of the assay."
— Ann Yellowlees et al., BioScience, June 2013
"Suppose you shake a crib with a sleeping baby. If you shake it hard, the baby always wakes up. However, if you shake it gently, the baby might wake up. The waking up itself is a quantal event—the baby is either awake or asleep—but the probability of this happening depends on how hard you rock."
— Sönke Johnsen, The Optics of Life: A Biologist's Guide to Light in Nature, 2012
Did You Know?
In Latin, quantum is the neuter form of quantus, meaning "how much?" Both of these forms played a role in the development of quantal. The first sense of quantal, used in scientific experimentation to refer to cases in which only one of two possible results occurs, derived from quanti, the plural of quantus. (Quantus is also an ancestor of our noun quantity.) The second sense of quantal is more directly related to Latin quantum and the English noun quantum, which refers to the smallest possible unit of a form of energy (such as light).
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