belay slave n.— «The technical term for the climber who goes first is the “leader”; that’s the climber on the “sharp” end of the rope—the end you can hurt yourself on. The term for the climber who holds the rope...
sharp adj.— «The technical term for the climber who goes first is the “leader”; that’s the climber on the “sharp” end of the rope—the end you can hurt yourself on.» —“A Match Made in Canada” by...
rap v.—Gloss: short for “rappel.” «He kept falling, flailing and failing to make the moves, eventually just hanging on the rope and begging me to lower him down to the last ledge. He was out of steam; we rapped back to the...
tap out v. phr.— «Once, in a match with Kazushi Sakuraba of Japan, Mr. Gracie refused to “tap out,” or submit, despite being in an iron hold. Mr. Gracie let his own arm snap.» —“A Kinder, Gentler (but Not by Much) Brand of...
suspenser n.— «“Mauritius” caters efficiently to a hunger that Broadway hasn’t been gratifying in recent years. That’s the corkscrew-twist drama of suspense, a genre that was a theatrical staple for much of the 20th century.…And...
banana skin n.— «Italy are a good side—they won two games in the Six Nations and pushed Ireland in the warm-ups and most of them have beaten Scotland before. This, therefore, is not a “banana skin”; it’s what the French call a...