straking
n.— «Mahesh said the Department of Transportation had been applying magnesium chloride to New Mexico roads for about five years. It is a commonly used chemical to de-ice roads throughout the United States. It must be mixed to the right consistency and is then emptied from a tank onto the road in a process called straking. The chemical prevents the snow from binding to pavement and also melts some snow that falls on the roadway. The chemical works best when applied before a snowstorm.» —“Fatal crash: Highway department halts use of de-icer” by Natalie Storey New Mexican (Santa Fe, New Mexico) Dec. 17, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What’s it like to hike the Pacific Crest Trail all the way from Mexico to Canada? You’ll end up with sore muscles and blisters, and great stories to tell. Along the way, you’ll also pick up some slang, like NoBo, SoBo, Yo-yo and...
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result? A memorable lesson in the miracle of metamorphosis...