rocking
n.— «Many of the patrol’s vehicles surrounded by steel cages to protect agents from rocks hurled at them—a practice known as “rocking” among the ranks. One agent died after being hit by a stone. “(Smugglers will) ‘rock’ our agents, and while they’re being distracted, that’s when they move,” Scioli said. “They move drugs, they move human traffic.”» —“Patrol Sees Escalating Border War” KPHO-TV (Phoenix, Arizona) Dec. 16, 2008. (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...
Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won’t find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in the book Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape. The book is an intriguing collection...