Word - 110

SHUNPIKE \SHUN-pyke\ noun

: a side road used to avoid the toll on or the speed and traffic of a superhighway

Example sentence:
When people request directions to our house, I ask them if they prefer to take the turnpike or the shunpike.

Did you know?

America's love affair with the automobile and the development of a national system of superhighways (along with the occasional desire to seek out paths less-traveled) is a story belonging to the 20th century. So the word "shunpike," too, must be a 20th-century phenomenon, right? Nope. Toll roads have actually existed for centuries (the word "turnpike" has meant "tollgate" since at least 1678). In fact, toll roads were quite common in 19th-century America, and "shunpike" has been describing side roads since the middle of that century, almost half a century before the first Model T rolled out of the factory.

Word - 109

AGGRESS \uh-GRESS\ verb

: to commit aggression : to act

Example sentence:
Certain indicators, such as irritability, can indicate an animal's likelihood to aggress.

Did you know?

"Aggress" and its more familiar relatives, "aggression" and "aggressive," derive from the Latin verb "aggredi," meaning "to approach, attack, or undertake." When "aggress" was first used in English in the 16th century, it meant "to approach," but that use is now obsolete. The current meaning of the word has been with us since the early 18th century. Back then, the noun "aggress" ("an attack") appeared occasionally as well, but time has relegated that use to obsolescence, too.

Word - 108

CONGLOBATE \kahn-GLOH-bayt\ verb

: to form into a round compact mass

Example sentence:
Jack alternately conglobated and flattened the bit of clay as he talked.

Did you know?

"Conglobate" descends from the Latin verb "conglobare," which in turn comes from the prefix "con-" (meaning "with" or "together") and "globus" (meaning "globe"). "Conglobare" also means "to form into a ball," and in the 16th century it gave us the word "conglobe," of the same meaning. A century after "conglobe" first appeared in print, its cousin "conglobate" arrived on the scene. You may be wondering if the word "glob" is a relative too. "Glob" isn't linked directly to "conglobate," but it does have a possible link to "globe." Etymologists think that "glob" might have originated as a blend of "globe" and "blob."

Word - 107

CLOCHARD \kloh-SHAR\ noun

: tramp, vagrant

Example sentence:

"He lives on the Pont Neuf, the oldest and most beautiful bridge in Paris, which has become a secret home to clochards ... while closed for extensive repairs." (Vincent Canby, The New York Times, October 6, 1992)

Did you know?

Why such a fancy French word for a bum? The truth of the matter is, nine times out of ten, you will find "clochard" used for not just any bum, but a French bum -- even more specifically, a Parisian bum. And, sometimes, it's even a certain type of Parisian bum -- a type that has been romanticized in literature and is part of the local color. Nevertheless, as "francais" as this word (which comes from the French verb "clocher," meaning "to limp") may seem, its regular appearance in English sources since 1937 makes it an English word, too.

Word - 106

GENIUS \JEEN-yus\ noun

*1 : a single strongly marked capacity or aptitude

2 : extraordinary intellectual power especially as manifested in creative activity

3 : a person endowed with transcendent mental superiority; especially : a person with a very high IQ

Example sentence:
Those children have a genius for getting into trouble!

Did you know?

The belief system of the ancient Romans included spirits that were somewhere in between gods and humans and were thought to accompany each person through life as a protector. The Latin name for this spirit was "genius," which came from the verb "gignere," meaning "to beget." This sense of "attendant spirit" was first borrowed into English in the early 16th century. Part of such a spirit's role was to protect a person's moral character, and from that idea an extended sense developed in the 16th century meaning "an identifying character." In time, that meaning was extended to cover a special ability for doing something, and eventually "genius" acquired senses referring particularly to "very great intelligence" and "people of great intelligence."