fling
n.— «He studied the deep-earth sources of earthquakes and coined the more graphic term “fling” for a phenomenon scientists call elastic rebound, which occurs along a fault line in an earthquake’s initial stages. It is this snap-back along a slipping fault, much like the rebound of a rubber band, that causes much of the damage to structures after a quake.» —“Bruce A. Bolt, 75, Scientist Who Improved Earthquake Safety, Dies” by Jeremy Pearce New York Times July 28, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
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...