spalting
n.— «Wood left on the ground for several months, he said, will undergo “a startling transformation and develop a spidery network of black lines.” This process, called spalting, “is due to special fungi that live in the ground.”» —“Artists work in oil and wood” by Rebecca Bailey in Carrboro Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.) Sept. 29, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What exactly is a planet? Controversy over this question led to Pluto’s redefinition, along with a brand-new English word. And: Some people now use the phrase all the things! to mean and whatnot or you know what I mean. This new sense of all...
Lisa calls from Huntsville, Alabama, to say that whenever Lisa was looking sharp in an attractive dress, one “tight enough to show that you’re a woman and loose enough to show that you’re a lady,” her mother would compliment...