Word Meanings 2021-03-25 (14 Words)

#1
naval
/ˈneɪv(ə)l/

adjective
adjective: naval

    relating to a navy or navies.
    "a naval base"

Origin
late Middle English: from Latin navalis, from navis ‘ship’.
Translate naval to
Tip
Similar-sounding words
naval is sometimes confused with navel

---
#2
navy
/ˈneɪvi/

noun
noun: navy; noun: the navy; noun: navy blue; plural noun: navy blues; modifier noun: navy-blue

    1.
    the branch of the armed services of a state which conducts military operations at sea.
    "she joined the navy in 1990"
        the ships of a navy.
        plural noun: navies
        "we built their navy"
        literary
        a fleet of ships.
        h
        Similar:
        fleet

flotilla
armada
naval (task) force

    squadron

2.
a dark blue colour.
"the dress comes in navy, gunmetal grey, or black"

Similar:
navy blue
dark blue
indigo
midnight blue

    ink blue

Origin
late Middle English (in the sense ‘ships collectively, fleet’): from Old French navie ‘ship, fleet’, from popular Latin navia ‘ship’, from Latin navis ‘ship’.

---

#3
windward
/ˈwɪndwəd/

adjective
adjective: windward

    facing the wind or situated on the side facing the wind.
    "the windward side of the boat"

adverb
adverb: windward

    towards the wind or on the side facing the wind.
    "we have not raced windward for some time"

noun
noun: windward

    the side or direction from which the wind is blowing.
    "he had beaten to windward across St Austell Bay"

Phrases
to windward of — in an advantageous position in relation to.
"I happen to have got to windward of the young woman"

---

#4 

slay
/sleɪ/
verb
past participle: slain

    1.
    archaic•literary
    kill (a person or animal) in a violent way.
    "St George slew the dragon"
    h
    Similar:
    kill

murder
put to death
do to death
put to the sword
butcher
cut down
cut to pieces
slaughter
massacre
shoot down
gun down
mow down
assassinate
execute
dispatch
destroy
eliminate
annihilate
exterminate
dispose of
wipe out
take out
bump off
do in
do for
rub out
top
wipe off the face of the earth
blow away
liquidate
stiff
waste
smoke
ice
off
killing
homicide
putting to death
execution
butchery
assassination
destruction
extermination
liquidation
mactation

    North American
    murder (someone).
    "a man was slain with a shotgun"
    h
    Similar:
    kill

murder
put to death
do to death
put to the sword
butcher
cut down
cut to pieces
slaughter
massacre
shoot down
gun down
mow down
assassinate
execute
dispatch
destroy
eliminate
annihilate
exterminate
dispose of
wipe out
take out
bump off
do in
do for
rub out
top
wipe off the face of the earth
blow away
liquidate
stiff
waste
smoke
ice

    off

2.
informal
greatly impress or amuse (someone).
"you slay me, you really do"
h
Similar:
amuse greatly
convulse with mirth/laughter
entertain greatly
make someone laugh
make someone crack up
kill
knock dead
be the death of
wow
be a hit with

    crease up
        be extremely impressive, stylish, or successful.
        "she slayed in a jumpsuit"

Origin
Old English slēan ‘strike, kill’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch slaan and German schlagen .

---

#5

choleric
/ˈkɒlərɪk/

adjective
adjective: choleric

    bad-tempered or irritable.
    "he was a choleric, self-important little man"
    
    Similar:
    bad-tempered

irascible
irritable
grumpy
grouchy
crotchety
tetchy
testy
crusty
cantankerous
curmudgeonly
ill-tempered
ill-natured
ill-humoured
peevish
cross
fractious
disagreeable
pettish
crabbed
crabby
waspish
prickly
peppery
touchy
scratchy
splenetic
shrewish
short-tempered
hot-tempered
quick-tempered
dyspeptic
bilious
liverish
cross-grained
argumentative
quarrelsome
uncooperative
contrary
perverse
difficult
awkward
snappish
snappy
chippy
short-fused
shirty
stroppy
narky
ratty
eggy
like a bear with a sore head
cranky
ornery
peckish
soreheaded
snaky
waxy
miffy

Opposite:
good-natured
affable

    (in medieval medicine) having choler as the predominant bodily humour.
    "a choleric disposition"

---

#6

self-important
/ˌsɛlfɪmˈpɔːt(ə)nt/
adjective
adjective: self-important

    having an exaggerated sense of one's own value or importance.
    "a self-important bureaucrat"
    h
    Similar:
    conceited

arrogant
bumptious
self-assertive
full of oneself
puffed up
swollen-headed
pompous
overbearing
(self-)opinionated
cocky
swaggering
strutting
presumptuous
forward
imperious
domineering
magisterial
pontifical
sententious
grandiose
vain
haughty
overweening
proud
egotistic
egotistical
supercilious
condescending
patronizing
snooty
uppity
uppish

Opposite:

---

#7

opprobrium
/əˈprəʊbrɪəm/

noun
noun: opprobrium

    harsh criticism or censure.
    "the critical opprobrium generated by his films"
    
    Similar:
    vilification

abuse
vituperation
condemnation
criticism
censure
castigation
denunciation
defamation
denigration
disparagement
obloquy
derogation
slander
revilement
reviling
calumny
calumniation
execration
excoriation
lambasting
upbraiding
bad press
character assassination
attack
invective
libel
insults
aspersions
flak
mud-slinging
bad-mouthing
tongue-lashing
stick
verbal
slagging off
contumely
animadversion
objurgation

Opposite:
praise

    public disgrace arising from shameful conduct.
    "the opprobrium of being closely associated with gangsters"
    
    Similar:
    disgrace

shame
dishonour
discredit
stigma
humiliation
loss of face
ignominy
odium
obloquy
disfavour
disrepute
ill repute
infamy
notoriety
scandal
stain
disesteem

        
        Opposite:
        honour
        archaic
        an occasion or cause of reproach or disgrace.
        plural noun: opprobriums

Origin

---

#8

solicitude
/səˈlɪsɪtjuːd/

noun
noun: solicitude

    care or concern for someone or something.
    "I was touched by his solicitude"
    h
    Similar:
    concern

care
attentiveness
mindfulness
consideration
considerateness
thoughtfulness
solicitousness
carefulness
anxiety
worry

    concernment

Origin
late Middle English: from Old French sollicitude, from Latin sollicitudo, from sollicitus (see solicitous).

---

#9

conspicuously
/kənˈspɪkjʊəsli/

adverb
adverb: conspicuously

    in a clearly visible way.
    "the signs were conspicuously displayed inside the restaurant"
        in a way that attracts notice or attention.
        "his arguments conspicuously lack rigour"

---

#10

exterminate
/ɪkˈstəːmɪneɪt,ɛkˈstəːmɪneɪt/

verb
verb: exterminate; 3rd person present: exterminates; past tense: exterminated; past participle: exterminated; gerund or present participle: exterminating

    destroy completely.
    "after exterminating the entire population, the soldiers set fire to the buildings"
    
    Similar:
    kill

put to death
do to death
do away with
put an end to
finish off
take the life of
end the life of
get rid of
dispatch
slaughter
butcher
massacre
wipe out
mow down
shoot down
cut down
put to the sword
send to the gas chambers
ethnically cleanse
destroy
eliminate
eradicate
annihilate
extirpate
murder
assassinate
execute
bump off
knock off
polish off
do in
top
take out
snuff out
erase
croak
stiff
zap
blow away
blow someone's brains out
give someone the works
ice
off
rub out
waste
whack
smoke
scrag

    slay
        kill (a pest).
        "they use poison to exterminate moles"

Origin
late Middle English (in the sense ‘drive out’): from Latin exterminat- ‘driven out’, from the verb exterminare, from ex- ‘out’ + terminus ‘boundary’. The sense ‘destroy’ (mid 16th century) comes from the Latin of the Vulgate.

---

#11

forage
/ˈfɒrɪdʒ/

verb
verb: forage; 3rd person present: forages; past tense: foraged; past participle: foraged; gerund or present participle: foraging

    (of a person or animal) search widely for food or provisions.
    "the birds forage for aquatic invertebrates, insects, and seeds"
        obtain (food or provisions) by searching.
        "a girl foraging grass for oxen"
        search (a place) so as to obtain food.
        "units that were foraging a particular area"
        h
        Similar:
        hunt

hunt around
search
look about
look round
look around
cast about
cast round
cast around
rummage (about)
rummage (round)
rummage (around)
ferret (about)
ferret (around)
root about
root around
scratch about
scratch around
nose about
nose round
nose around
scour
look high and low
seek
look
explore
scrounge around
rootle around

        poozle
        archaic
        supply with food.

noun
noun: forage

    1.
    food such as grass or hay for horses and cattle; fodder.
    h
    Similar:
    fodder

feed
food
foodstuff
herbage
pasturage
silage
hay
straw
comestibles
provender
2.
a wide search over an area in order to obtain something, especially food or provisions.
h
Similar:
scavenge
hunt
search
look
exploration
quest
scout

    probe

Origin
Middle English: from Old French fourrage (noun), fourrager (verb), from fuerre ‘straw’, of Germanic origin and related to fodder.

---

#12

knoll
/nəʊl/

noun
plural noun: knolls

    a small hill or mound.
    "a grassy knoll"
    
    Similar:
    hillock

mound
rise
hummock
hill
hump
knob
tor
tump
barrow
outcrop
bank
ridge
dune
elevation
acclivity
eminence
drumlin
brae
law

    koppie

Origin

---

#13

hillock
/ˈhɪlək/

noun
plural noun: hillocks

    a small hill or mound.
    
    Similar:
    mound

small hill
prominence
eminence
elevation
rise
knoll
hummock
hump
tump
dune
barrow
tumulus
bank
ridge
howe
law
knob
koppie
knap

    monticle

---

#14

impede
/ɪmˈpiːd/

verb
past tense: impeded; past participle: impeded

    delay or prevent (someone or something) by obstructing them; hinder.
    "the sap causes swelling which can impede breathing"
    
    Similar:
    hinder

obstruct
hamper
handicap
hold back
hold up
delay
interfere with
disrupt
retard
slow
slow down
brake
put a brake on
restrain
fetter
shackle
hamstring
cramp
cripple
block
check
bar
curb
stop
thwart
frustrate
balk
foil
derail
stand in the way of
stymie
foul up
screw up
scupper
bork
cumber

    Opposite:
    facilitate