TagEnglish dictionary

bampot

bampot n. a crazy person; a fool or dolt. Etymological Note: Most likely a form of barmpot. According to OED, barm, “the froth that forms on top of fermenting malt liquors; the head of a beer,” is used attributively as a formative to...

huck

huck v. to throw, to toss, to short-arm; in disc-based sports, to throw for distance; in cycling, kayaking, snowboarding, and similar sports, to ride over a drop-off. Editorial Note: This term is probably related to chuck ‘to throw with a short arm...

hokey Dinah

hokey Dinah other. an exclamation of surprise or marvel. Etymological Note: Perhaps a form of the slightly more common holy Dinah, though the Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for hokey, hoaky, defined as “a petty oath, or asservation...

chones

chones n.pl. underwear, especially undershorts or panties. Also chonies, choners. Editorial Note: Despite its proximity to a mention of lingerie, chonies in the 1928 citation is probably a typographical error for chorines. Etymological Note:...

chippy

chippy adj. irritable, tempermental, or fractious. Editorial Note: Oxford English Dictionary cites this meaning as early as 1885 as a colloquial form of ‘given to chipping, ready to chip.’ In recent decades in North America it has become most...

skeempers

skeempers  n.— «My father had a favorite term he used to describe anything that pinched or clasped. Consequently, the kitchen tongs and the snaps on my pajamas came to be called skeempers. The Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam Webster...

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