Browse dictionary
Showing 1-20 of 349 results in 349 entries
1. Abdul, n. View full entry 1870
...Originally: a male Turk; spec. (chiefly Austral. and N.Z.) a Turkish soldier in the First World War (191418); (also) Turkish soldiers collectively. Later...
2. Abelungu, n. View full entry 1836
...With sing. or pl. concord. White people collectively. Cf. mlungu, umlungu2....
3. abortionism, n. View full entry 1857
...Originally: the practice of inducing abortion. In later use (depreciative): support for or advocacy for permitting induced abortion, esp. as a woman's right....
4. abortionist, n. View full entry 1844
...A person who carries out or induces abortions, esp. illegally or in secret....
5. abstractionism, n. View full entry 1842
...Usu. somewhat depreciative. The presentation of ideas in abstract terms; the tendency to favour abstract explanations and theories while ignoring or paying insufficient attention to concrete details or particular instances....
6. abstractionist, n. and adj. View full entry 1832
...A person who prefers to view, analyse, and discuss the world in abstract rather than practical terms; a thinker who gives precedence to abstract ideas and concepts over concrete and particular ones....
7. academicize, v. View full entry 1846
...intr. To engage in academic discourse, thought, or analysis. Usu. somewhat depreciative. rare....
8. accommodationist, n. and adj. View full entry a1832
...Originally: a person who seeks to mediate between opposing factions or views in the interest of fairness, clarity, etc. Later also: (sometimes depreciative) a person considered willing to compromise with...
9. adenoidal, adj. View full entry 1849
...Gland-like, glandiform; glandular. Cf. adenoid1. Obs.rare....
10. ad hocery, n. View full entry 1899
...The use of (or tendency to use) ad hoc measures, rather than general long-term strategies, to deal with issues, situations, etc.; ad hocism. Also: an instance of this. Cf. adhocracy...
11. airified, adj. View full entry 1837
...Made airy; affectedly superior, given to assuming airs....
12. allee samee, adj. and adv. View full entry 1840
...In representations or imitations of (esp. Chinese) pidgin English: all alike; all the same (as someone or something)....
13. amateur dramatics, n. View full entry 1887
...Dramatic entertainment produced by non-professional companies or groups; the genre of non-professional theatre, esp. as performed by local drama societies (occas. mildly depreciative)....
14. Americanese, n. View full entry 1863
...American English; English which contains many Americanisms....
15. ass, n.2 View full entry 1860
...arse1a....
16. attiˈtudinizer, n. View full entry 1824
...One who practises or depicts attitudes. (Contemptuous.)...
17. aˈttorneydom, n. View full entry 1881
...The body of attorneys collectively or abstractly. (Contemptuous.)...
18. aˈttorneyism, n. View full entry 1837
...The practice of attorneys, or that attributed to the ‘rascally attorney’; unscrupulous cleverness. (Vituperative.)...
19. auto-, comb. form1 View full entry c1833
...Forming chiefly scientific terms relating to chemical, biological, or organic processes, with the sense ‘originating within or acting on the body or organism in question; self-produced; self-induced’;human activity or behaviour,...
20. baby act, n. View full entry 1837
...U.S.colloq. Any act or statute protecting the rights of minors. Freq. in to plead the baby act1. Now rare....
