block
n.— «Judy Hines holds the distinction of being one of Denver’s longest working prostitutes. “I started when I was 15, in 1974, working out of an apartment building behind Colfax and Pearl,” said the 46-year-old Hines. “It was easy money. When the easy money left, I decided to hit the block.” The block—slang for the street—is where Hines stayed, for the most part, until January.» —“A lifeline vs. life on the streets” by Amy Herdy Denver Post (Colo.) Mar. 28, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...