stopper n.— «Unlike many other public and private parks, Washington Square’s new granite benches do not have skate deterrents, or “stoppers”—small metal ribs attached to the stone that prevent what are known as “grinds,” in which skateboarders...
A recent article in The New Yorker magazine about the late writer David Foster Wallace has Martha musing about Wallace’s stem-winding sentences, and the word stem-winder.
chaveta n.— «Deftly rolling, pressing and slicing tobacco leaves with a slab of sharp metal known as a chaveta, they sculptured perfectly cylindrical cigars—an art that requires years to master.» —“Why the Smoke Doesn’t Get in Their Eyes” by Sophia...
sputtering n.— «Metal ion creation in the semiconductor industry relies on a technique called sputtering. Traditional sputtering relies on a gas such as argon being heated to plasma and then contained by a magnetic field between a layer of metal...
white goods n.pl.— «The partnership collects used aluminum softdrink cans, cardboard, plastic, electrical wires, abandoned cars, other metals, and even “white goods”—a term used to describe major household appliances and can also include computer...
detectorist n.— «Just because you’ve got a metal detector doesn’t entitle you to charge unbidden onto other people’s property, Alan cautions. Detectorists must obtain permission to go onto private turf and must register with public lands, state...