hawasim
n.— «Some of his customers, he said, are hawasim, looters who took part in the rampant plundering of government buildings, banks, Iraqi army bases and businesses after the war.» —“Baghdad Real Estate Sizzles Amid Chaos” by Peter Y. Hong in Baghdad, Iraq Los Angeles Times July 19, 2004. (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...