thermal roughening
n.— «In February, crews started blasting the sidewalks with a blowtorch—or “thermal roughening,” as they call it—to burn away the slippery top layer of stone.» —“Mayor Bloomberg orders $1M worth of repairs on sidewalk near City Hall” by Adam Lisberg New York Daily News (New York City) Apr. 14, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...
Patrick in New York City is curious about the term ride or die, which describes a friend, fan, or romantic partner who is devoted to the end. The expression shows up in the mid-1990s in hip hop and the work of Tupac Shakur and The Lox, and often...