lien
n.— «Lien. Old contracting custom which requires that contractor treat workers upon near completion of construction work, which is indicated by hoisting of small cedar tree to top of structure.» —“General Contracting—Building Trades” by Mendelowitz Lexicon of Trade Jargon , 1938-39. (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...
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...