Saturday 31 March 2012

Gall

GALL

—noun
1. informal . impudence
2. bitterness; rancour
3. something bitter or disagreeable
4. physiol. an obsolete term for bile
5. an obsolete term for gall bladder

—noun
1. a sore on the skin caused by chafing
2. something that causes vexation or annoyance.
3. irritation; exasperation
—verb
4. pathol. to abrade (the skin, etc.) as by rubbing
5. (trans.) to irritate or annoy; vex

—noun
an abnormal outgrowth in plant tissue caused by certain parasitic insects, fungi, bacteria, or mechanical injury




As much as it galls me
To see her invade our territory
She is too cute to be chased away

Friday 30 March 2012

Fuliginous

FULIGINOUS

—adj
1. sooty or smoky
2. of the colour of soot; dull greyish-black or brown

























Forgotten by time
A fuliginous place of rest
For the terminally weary

Thursday 29 March 2012

Low

LOW

-adj.
1. situated, placed, or occurring not far above the ground, floor, or base.
2. of small extent upward; not high or tall.
3. not far above the horizon, as a planet.
4. lying or being below the general level.
5. designating or pertaining to regions near sea level, especially near the sea.
6. bending or passing far downward; deep.
7. (of a garment) low-necked; décolleté.
8. rising but slightly from a surface.
9. of less than average or normal height or depth, as a liquid or stream.
10.near the first of a series.
11.ranked near the beginning or bottom on some scale of measurement.
12.indicating the bottom or the point farthest down.
13.lacking in strength, energy, or vigour; feeble; weak.
14.providing little nourishment or strength, as a diet.
15.of small number, amount, degree, force, intensity, etc.
16.indicated or represented by a low number.
17.soft: subdued; not loud.
18.Music . produced by relatively slow vibrations, as sounds; grave in pitch.
19.assigning or attributing little worth, value, excellence, or the like.
20.containing a relatively small amount.
21.nearing depletion; not adequately supplied.
22.depressed or dejected.
23.far down in the scale of rank or estimation; humble.
24.of inferior quality or character.
25.lacking in dignity or elevation, as of thought or expression.
26.mean, base, or disreputable.
27.coarse or vulgar.
28.Boxing . struck or delivered below a contestant's belt.
29.Biology . having a relatively simple structure; not complex in organization.
30.Phonetics . (of a vowel) articulated with a relatively large opening above the tongue, as the vowels of hat, hut, hot, ought, etc.
31.Automotive . of, pertaining to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the drive shaft moves at the lowest speed with relation to the speed of the engine crankshaft, used especially for temporarily overcoming the weight or inertia of the vehicle; first.
32.Baseball . (of a pitched ball) passing the plate at a level below that of the batter's knees.
33.Cards . having less value than other cards.
34.Metallurgy . having a relatively small amount of a specified constituent (usually used in combination with a noun)
35.Chiefly British . holding to Low Church principles and practices.
-adv.
36.in or to a low position, point, degree, etc.
37.near the ground, floor, or base; not aloft.
38.in or to a humble or abject state.
39.in or to a condition of depletion, prostration, or death.
40.at comparatively small cost; cheaply.
41.at or to a low pitch, volume, intensity, etc..
42.in a low tone; softly; quietly.
43.Archaic . far down in time; late.
-noun
44.something that is low, as ground or prices.
46.Meteorology . an atmospheric low-pressure system; cyclone.
47.Cards .
a. the lowest trump card.
b. a card of small value, or of lower value than other cards.
c. the lowest score in a game.
d. a player having such a score.
48.a point of deepest decline, vulgarity, etc.

-verb (used without object)
1. to utter the deep, low sound characteristic of cattle; moo.
-verb (used with object)
2. to utter by or as by lowing.
-noun
3. the act or the sound of lowing

-verb (used without object) British Dialect .
1. to burn; blaze.
2. (of a person) to feel strong emotions; glow with excitement.

























Locked in our embrace
We low, intense,
Carried away
We low in unison
Our world combusts
With our song


Stree art by Fred le Chevalier

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Tilt

TILT

-verb (used with object)

1. to cause to lean, incline, slope, or slant.
2. to rush at or charge, as in a joust.
3. to hold poised for attack, as a lance.
4. to move (a camera) up or down on its vertical axis for photographing or televising a moving character, object, or the like.
-verb (used without object)
5. to move into or assume a sloping position or direction.
6. to strike, thrust, or charge with a lance or the like (usually followed by "at").
7. to engage in a joust, tournament, or similar contest.
8. (of a camera) to move on its vertical axis.
9. to incline in opinion, feeling, etc.; lean.
-noun
10.an act or instance of tilting.
11.the state of being tilted; a sloping position.
12.a slope.
13.a joust or any other contest.
14.a dispute; controversy.
15.a thrust of a weapon, as at a tilt or joust.
16.(in aerial photography) the angle formed by the direction of aim of a camera and a perpendicular to the surface of the earth.

-noun
1. a cover of coarse cloth, canvas, etc., as for a wagon.
2. an awning.
-verb (used with object)
3. to furnish with a tilt.

























The hives have not been tilted
Rain and snow could still come
Yet their roofs tilt all the same

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Truce

TRUCE

-noun
1. a suspension of hostilities for a specified period of time by mutual agreement of the warring parties; cease-fire; armistice.
2. an agreement or treaty establishing this.
3. a temporary respite, as from trouble or pain.



In the miracle of spring
A fragile truce
To keep flowers in bloom

Monday 26 March 2012

Clew

CLEW

-noun
1. a rare variant of clue . anything that serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem, mystery, etc.
2. Nautical . either lower corner of a square sail or the after lower corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
3. a ball or skein of thread, yarn, etc.
4. Usually, clews. the rigging for a hammock.
5. Theater . a metal device holding scenery lines controlled by one weighted line.
6. Classical Mythology . the thread by which Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth.
-verb (used with object)
7. to coil into a ball.
8. to direct or point out by a clue.
9. Theater .
a. to draw up the bottom edge of (a curtain, drop, etc.) and fold out of view; bag.
b. to secure (lines) with a clew.

























A clew to hook you in
Set that feeble memory going
To stop your mind
From unravelling

Sunday 25 March 2012

Advection

ADVECTION

-noun

1. Meteorology . the horizontal transport of atmospheric properties (distinguished from convection).
2. the horizontal flow of air, water, etc.

























Mysteries and wonders
Advection drying surfaces
Gently
Concentrating flavours

Saturday 24 March 2012

Penultimate

PENULTIMATE

-adj.

1. next to the last: the penultimate scene of the play.
2. of or pertaining to a penult (the next to the last syllable in a word)
-noun
3. a penult.

























Enjoying a penultimate day
Lounging slowly into Sunday

Friday 23 March 2012

Corinthian

CORINTHIAN

—adj.
1. of, characteristic of, or relating to Corinth
2. of, denoting, or relating to one of the five classical orders of architecture: characterized by a bell-shaped capital having carved ornaments based on acanthus leaves
3. given to luxury; dissolute
4. ornate and elaborate
—noun
5. a native or inhabitant of Corinth
6. an amateur sportsman
7. rare . a man about town, especially one who is dissolute

























Corinthian decorations
Adorn the Corinthian man
Not hiding his eyes

Thursday 22 March 2012

Scabrous

SCABROUS

—adj.
1. roughened because of small projections; scaly
2. indelicate, indecent, or salacious
3. difficult to deal with; knotty



She turns and turns
Scaling the scabrous landscape
In search for a nest
Spring beckons

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Grime

GRIME

—noun
1. dirt, soot, or filth, especially when thickly accumulated or ingrained
2. a genre of music originating in the East End of London and combining elements of garage, hip-hop, rap, and jungle
—verb (trans.)
3. to make dirty or coat with filth

























With centuries and rain
Grime has accumulated
Turning gutters into gardens
Yet still pissing springtime
Over the pavement

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Grotesque

GROTESQUE

-adj.
1. strangely or fantastically distorted; bizarre
2. of or characteristic of the grotesque in art
3. absurdly incongruous; in a ludicrous context
-noun
4. a 16th-century decorative style in which parts of human, animal, and plant forms are distorted and mixed
5. a decorative device, as in painting or sculpture, in this style
6. printing the family of 19th-century sans serif display types
7. any grotesque person or thing

























Your face
And limbs turning
You disappear in shadows
Changing to a grotesque
An effect of light
Or lack thereof
Darkness defining you better
Than harsh light
And reality

Monday 19 March 2012

Moon

MOON

—noun
1. the earth's natural satellite, orbiting the earth at a mean distance of 238,857 miles (384,393 km) and having a diameter of 2160 miles (3476 km).
2. this body during a particular lunar month, or during a certain period of time, or at a certain point of time, regarded as a distinct object or entity.
3. a lunar month, or, in general, a month.
4. any planetary satellite.
5. something shaped like an orb or a crescent.
6. moonlight.
7. a platyfish.
8. Slang . the buttocks, especially when bared.
-verb (used without object)
9. to act or wander abstractedly or listlessly.
10.to sentimentalize or remember nostalgically.
11.to gaze dreamily or sentimentally at something or someone.
12.Slang . to expose one's buttocks suddenly and publicly as a prank or gesture of disrespect.
—verb (used with object)
13. to spend (time) idly
14. to illuminate by or align against the moon.
15. Slang . to expose one's buttocks to as a prank or gesture of disrespect.



It's a moon day!
A moon day!
And I intend to spend it
Mooning about!

Sunday 18 March 2012

Tyromancy

TYROMANCY

-noun
Obsolete, a form of divination involving observation of cheese, especially as it coagulates.

























I try my hand,
Mouth and palate
At tyromancy
Only predicting
Cholesterol excess
And obesity

Saturday 17 March 2012

Craven

CRAVEN

—adj.
1. cowardly; mean-spirited
—noun
2. a coward

























Far from me
The idea of calling him
A craven
But he's a nervous cat
Indeed.

Friday 16 March 2012

Predilection

PREDILECTION

—noun
a predisposition, preference, or bias

























Here
Everywhere,
My predilection for red wine
Is telling

Thursday 15 March 2012

inhere

INHERE

—verb
(followed by "in") to be an inseparable part (of)

























Chocolate mousse
Inhering in hearts?
Or the other way around?

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Whiffle

WHIFFLE

-verb (used without object)
1. to blow in light or shifting gusts or puffs, as the wind; veer or toss about irregularly.
2. to shift about; vacillate; be fickle.
-verb (used with object)
3. to blow with light, shifting gusts.



Clouds crowd in
Whiffled by a breeze
Or born of curiosity?

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Cardinal

CARDINAL

—noun
1. Roman Catholic Church any of the members of the Sacred College, ranking next after the pope, who elect the pope and act as his chief counsellors
2. Also called: cardinal red a deep vivid red colour
3. Cardinal number
4. Cardinal grosbeak , also called: redbird . a crested North American bunting, Richmondena (or Pyrrhuloxia ) cardinalis, the male of which has a bright red plumage and the female a brown one
5. a fritillary butterfly, Pandoriana pandora, found in meadows of southern Europe
6. a woman's hooded shoulder cape worn in the 17th and 18th centuries
— adj
7. (usually prenominal) fundamentally important; principal.
8. of a deep vivid red colour
9. astrology . mutable



A gaggle of Dalis looks out
From the brightness of cardinal
Poking eyes out on the way

Monday 12 March 2012

Contingent

CONTINGENT

-adj.
1. dependent for existence, occurrence, character, etc., on something not yet certain; conditional (often followed by "on" or "upon").
2. liable to happen or not; uncertain; possible.
3. happening by chance or without known cause; fortuitous; accidental.
4. Logic . (of a proposition) neither logically necessary nor logically impossible, so that its truth or falsity can be established only by sensory observation.
-noun
5. a quota of troops furnished.
6. any one of the representative groups composing an assemblage.
7. the proportion that falls to one as a share to be contributed or furnished.
8. a possible or chance occurrence























While frost is still contingent
The almond tree blooms all the same
To spite the elements

Sunday 11 March 2012

Grate

GRATE

-noun
1. a frame of metal bars for holding fuel when burning, as in a fireplace, furnace, or stove.
2. a framework of parallel or crossed bars, used as a partition, guard, cover, or the like; grating.
3. a fireplace.
-verb (used with object)
4. to furnish with a grate or grates.

-verb (used without object)
1. to have an irritating or unpleasant effect.
2. to make a sound of, or as if of, rough scraping; rasp.
3. to sound harshly; jar.
4. to scrape or rub with rough or noisy friction, as one thing on or against another.
-verb (used with object)
5. to reduce to small particles by rubbing against a rough surface or a surface with many sharp-edged openings.
6. to rub together with a harsh, jarring sound.
7. to irritate or annoy.
8. Archaic . to wear down or away by rough friction.

























Grated root celery
Rustic mustard
A dollop of mayonnaise
Lemon juice
A spoon of oil
My own version of “céléri rémoulade”.

Saturday 10 March 2012

Calefacient

CALEFACIENT

—adj
1. causing warmth
—noun
2. obsolete medical . an agent that warms, such as a mustard plaster























Nothing better
For body and soul
A calefacient cat

Friday 9 March 2012

Exaction

EXACT

—adj.
1. correct in every detail; strictly accurate
2. precise, as opposed to approximate; neither more nor less
3. (prenominal ) specific; particular
4. operating with very great precision
5. allowing no deviation from a standard; rigorous; strict
6. based mainly on measurement and the formulation of laws, as opposed to description and classification
—verb
7. to force or compel (payment or performance); extort
8. to demand as a right; insist upon
9. to call for or require



Spring exacts blooms from the trees
Forcing them out in the frigid air
To fight for the lives of their cells
And to tempt drowsy insects with a sip

Thursday 8 March 2012

Flexuous

FLEXUOUS

—adj.
1. full of bends or curves; winding
2. variable; unsteady



Snaking up the sky
A flexuous cloud

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Rill

RILL

—noun
1. a brook or stream; rivulet
2. a small channel or gulley, such as one formed during soil erosion
3. Also: rille . one of many winding cracks on the moon

























Traces on your face
Rills formed by tears
Or dried up years
A map of chaos and flavours

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Neritic

NERITIC

—adj.
of or formed in the region of shallow seas near a coastline




My dreams at low tide
Neritic swamps where ideas drown
A few pebbles shining through silt.

Monday 5 March 2012

Dysphonia

DYSPHONIA

—noun

any impairment in the ability to speak normally, as from spasm or strain of the vocal cords

























The old record
Grates and jumps
Paralysed by dysphonia

Sunday 4 March 2012

Ruck

RUCK

—noun
1. a large number or quantity; mass, especially of ordinary or undistinguished people or things
2. (in a race) a group of competitors who are well behind the leaders at the finish
3. rugby a loose scrum that forms around the ball when it is on the ground
4. Australian rules football the three players, two ruckmen and a rover, that do not have fixed positions but follow the ball closely
—verb (intr.)
5. rugby to try to win the ball by advancing over it when it is on the ground, driving opponents backward in the process

—noun
1. a wrinkle, crease, or fold
—verb
2. (usually followed by "up") to become or make wrinkled, creased, or puckered

—noun
prison slang . a fight

—noun
slang military . a rucksack

























Rucked ravioli
Are water-tight

Saturday 3 March 2012

Dysphoria

DYSPHORIA

-noun
Pathology . a state of dissatisfaction, anxiety, restlessness, or fidgeting.

























Up in the branches
This little cat
Trembles with dysphoria
And outrage

Friday 2 March 2012

Obtain

OBTAIN

-verb (used with object)
1. to come into possession of; get, acquire, or procure, as through an effort or by a request.
2. Obsolete . to attain or reach.
-verb (used without object)
3. to be prevalent, customary, or in vogue; prevail.
4. Archaic . to succeed.

























The day the ocean retreated
Dismay and pandemonium obtained
Flipping corpses over the bed rock
Left to dry and rot away.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Bespeak

BESPEAK

-verb (used with object)
1. to ask for in advance.
2. to reserve beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for.
3. Literary . to speak to; address.
4. to show; indicate.
5. Obsolete . to foretell; forebode.

























A chilled robin
Bespeaks a slice of spring
And a welcoming nest