Origin late 15th cent. (in the sense 'pardon or be absolved from (an offence)'): from French effacer, from e- (from Latin ex- 'away from') + face 'face'.
v. (-meled, -mel-ing; Brit -melled, -mel-ling) trans deprive of freedom of action: those less trammeled by convention than himself.
Origin late Middle English (sense 2): from Old French tramail, from a medeival Latin variant of trimaculum, perhaps from Latin tri- 'three' + macula 'mesh.'
n. an instrument consisting of a board with two grooves intersecting at right angles, in which the two ends of a beam compass can slide to draw an ellipse.
Origin early 18th cent: so named because the motion of the beam is 'restricted' by the grooves.
n. (also tram-mel net) a set-net consisting of three layers of netting, designed so that a fish entering through one of the large-meshed outer sections will push part of the finer-meshed central section through the large meshes on the further side, forming a pocket in which the fish is trapped.
"They're all dressed in greatcoats and spatterdashes, their faces covered with black kerchiefs, and they're armed with an impressive array of weaponry..."
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
n.Chiefly Philosophy a theoretical approach that regards something as interpretable through analysis into distinct, separable, and independent elementary components. The opposite of Holism.
n.Jewish & Christian Theology the glory of the divine prescence, conventionally represented as light or interpreted symbolically (in Kabbalism as a divine feminine aspect).
Origin mid 17th cent: from late Hebrew, from sakan 'dwell, rest.'
n. (plNIMBYs) acronym for not in my backyard,, referring to those who object to the siting of something perceived as unpleasant or potentially dangerous in their own neighborhood, such as a landfill or hazardous waste facility.
"But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth! There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage... Pardon me for finding the glass half full." - Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Sometimes when I'm sitting in class, you know, I'm not thinking about class, 'cause that would never happen. I think about kissing you. And it's like everything stops. It's like, it's like freeze frame. Willow kissage." - Oz, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The reference to the main "evil" in each season of Buffy the Vampire slayer, always a different evil than what had come before, and a recurring theme throughout that season.
"You know, for someone who's got "Watcher" on his resume', you might want to cast an eye to the front door every now and again." - Spike to Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. - Opening to Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Comments by elfflame
elfflame commented on the word fimbrial
n. (pl -bri-ae) Chiefly Anatomy a series of threads or other projections resembling a fringe.
Special Usage (usu in pl) an individual thread in such a structure, esp a fingerlike projection at the end of the Fallopian tube near the ovary.
Derivatives fim-bri-al adj
Origin mid 18th cent: from late Latin, literally 'border, fringe'.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word insouciantly
"When I opened the door, it was to find him leaning insouciantly against the frame.
Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin) by Jordan L Hawk
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word effacement
Between the rubble and his effacement from history, no looters got to it.
Widdershins (whyborne & Griffin) by Jordan L Hawk
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word effacement
v trans, erase (a mark) from a surface: with time, the words are effaced by the frost and the rain
Figurative his anger was effaced when he stepped into the open air.
special Usage (efface oneself) Figurative make oneself appear insignificant or inconspicuous.
Derivatives ef-face-ment n.
Origin late 15th cent. (in the sense 'pardon or be absolved from (an offence)'): from French effacer, from e- (from Latin ex- 'away from') + face 'face'.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word trammeled
"But her eyes were still sharp and fierce, the eyes of a hunting hawk, even if one trammeled in a mew.
Widdershins (whyborn & Griffin) by Jordan L Hawk
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word trammeled
v. (-meled, -mel-ing; Brit -melled, -mel-ling) trans deprive of freedom of action: those less trammeled by convention than himself.
Origin late Middle English (sense 2): from Old French tramail, from a medeival Latin variant of trimaculum, perhaps from Latin tri- 'three' + macula 'mesh.'
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word trammeled
n. a hook in a fireplace for a kettle.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word trammeled
n. an instrument consisting of a board with two grooves intersecting at right angles, in which the two ends of a beam compass can slide to draw an ellipse.
Origin early 18th cent: so named because the motion of the beam is 'restricted' by the grooves.
Special Usage a beam compass.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word trammeled
n. (also tram-mel net) a set-net consisting of three layers of netting, designed so that a fish entering through one of the large-meshed outer sections will push part of the finer-meshed central section through the large meshes on the further side, forming a pocket in which the fish is trapped.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word decan
Origin late 16th cent: from late Latin decanus 'chief of a group of ten.'
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word engraftment
v. another term for Graft.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word indigene
"She was in the Lakeside Courtyard...within reach of the terra indigene."
Written in Red: a Novel of the Others by Anne Bishop
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the list kindle-words-fyKcWc1yHZDB
updated as of 4/26/2020
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word situ
"Christine's team had opened the sarcophagus in situ and shipped it over in multiple crates, to be lovingly reassembled for the exhibit."
Widdershins (Whyborn & Griffin) by Jordan L Hawk
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word situ
n. situation or position, esp. the normal position of an organ or other part of a living thing.
Special Usage LAW the place to which, for purposes of legal jurisdiction or taxation, a property belongs.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word naif
"I'd been too distracted even to take offence at his assumption that I was some virginal naif who needed protecting.
Trick of Time by JL Merrow
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word didi
Borrowed from Hindi दीदी (dīdī, literally “elder sister”).
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word glommed
"The darkness that glommed around the woman parted.
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word devadasi
n. (pl. -sis) a hereditary femal dancer and courtesan in a Hindu temple.
Origin from Sanskrit devadasi, literally 'female servant of a god.'
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word apsara
n. (pl. -ras or -ra-ses) Hindu Mythology a celestial nymph, typically the consort of a gandharva or heavenly musician.
Origin from Hindi apsara, from Sanskrit apsaras.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word tulsi
"The over-sweet scent of flaming marigolds, tulsi and mint stamped the air."
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word tulsi
n. another term for Holy Basil.
Origin from Hindi tulsi.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word pensées
"During the next few years I wrote a series of Martian pensées, Shakespearian "asides," wandering thoughts, long night visions, predawn half-dreams."
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word pensées
n. a thought or reflection put into literary form; an aphorism.
Origin French.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word tastevin
"Everyone's drinking--a creative array of libations are being sold from carts, and we taste some fine wine from silver tastevins...
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word spatterdash
"They're all dressed in greatcoats and spatterdashes, their faces covered with black kerchiefs, and they're armed with an impressive array of weaponry..."
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word atomi
n. Chiefly Philosophy a theoretical approach that regards something as interpretable through analysis into distinct, separable, and independent elementary components. The opposite of Holism.
Derivatives at-om-ist n. ato-om-is-tic adj.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word Shekhinah
"He sang, or rather he chanted, and the few snatches I caught here and there spoke of divine suffering, of the Shekhinah in Exile..."
Night, by Elie Wiesel
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word Shekhinah
n. Jewish & Christian Theology the glory of the divine prescence, conventionally represented as light or interpreted symbolically (in Kabbalism as a divine feminine aspect).
Origin mid 17th cent: from late Hebrew, from sakan 'dwell, rest.'
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word kaffeeklatsch
n. an informal social gathering at which coffee is served.
Special Usage talking or gossip at such gatherings.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word lex talionis
n. the law of retaliation, whereby a punishment resembles the offense committed in kind and degree.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word tamponade
n. Medicine (in full cardiac tamonade) compression of the heart by an accumulation of fluid in the pericardial sac.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word porte cochere
"Fifteen minutes later, the Bently pulled up under the porte cochere of the sprawling one-story stretch of trademark red-washed brick."
Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood book 7), JR Ward
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word porte cochere
n. ARCHITECTURE a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to pass through, typically opening into a courtyard.
Special Usage a porch where vehicles stop to discharge passengers.
Origin late 17th cent: French, literally 'coach gateway.'
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word Nimbin
n. (pl NIMBYs) acronym for not in my backyard,, referring to those who object to the siting of something perceived as unpleasant or potentially dangerous in their own neighborhood, such as a landfill or hazardous waste facility.
Derivatives Nim-by-ism/-izem/n.
Origin 1980s
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word scanson
"Most of the prophets of the past millennium were more concerned with scansion than accuracy." Good Omens, Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the word scanson
n. the action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm.
the rhythm of a line of verse.
mid 17th cent: from Latin scansio(n-), from scandere 'to climb'; compare with SCAN.
April 26, 2020
elfflame commented on the user elfflame
Thank you, Shoepixie. I'm having fun coming up with the names of the lists.
April 29, 2008
elfflame commented on the user elfflame
Yes, I can see how it would be. It's very dangerous. I do get lost in my lists sometimes... :D
April 28, 2008
elfflame commented on the user elfflame
Thanks, resetee. I'm having fun. It's a great distraction.
April 28, 2008
elfflame commented on the word hero
"Do you know what the definition of a hero is? Someone who gets other people killed." - Zoe, "Serenity"
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word terse
See laconic.
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word sabrina
A teenaged witch.
"The test was positive. She’s our Sabrina." - Buffy, on learning Amy is a witch, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word misbehave
"I aim to misbehave." - Mal, "Serenity"
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word signal
"Can't stop the signal!" - the (fan) Browncoat's cry
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word scoobies
The fan term for the group around the Slayer in Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word companion
Inara Sera: I have to say, this is the first time we've had a preacher on board.
Book: Well, I wasn't expecting to see a state official either. Ambassador. shakes her hand as Mal laughs. I'm missing something funny.
Kaylee: Not so funny.
Inara: Ambassador is Mal's way of—
Mal: She's a whore, Shep.
Kaylee: The term is companion.
- "Serenity," the first episode of Firefly
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word alliance
"I never credited the Alliance with an overabundance of brains..." - Mal, Serenity
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word reavers
"Reavers ain't men — or they forgot how to be." - Mal, Firefly
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word hellmouth
"But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth! There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage... Pardon me for finding the glass half full." - Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word dusted
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer parlance, to have killed a vampire. "He's dusted."
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word kissage
"Sometimes when I'm sitting in class, you know, I'm not thinking about class, 'cause that would never happen. I think about kissing you. And it's like everything stops. It's like, it's like freeze frame. Willow kissage." - Oz, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word 'verse
"No power in the 'verse..." - from Joss Whedon's Firefly
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word browncoat
Lund: Your coat's kind of a brownish color...
Mal: It was on sale.
- "The Train Job" from the series Firefly
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word the black
Take me out
To the black
Tell 'em I ain't coming back
Burn the land
And boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
- from "The Ballad of Serenity" by Joss Whedon
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word big bad
The reference to the main "evil" in each season of Buffy the Vampire slayer, always a different evil than what had come before, and a recurring theme throughout that season.
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word watcher
"You know, for someone who's got "Watcher" on his resume', you might want to cast an eye to the front door every now and again." - Spike to Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word gorram
"Did the primary buffer panel just fall off my gorram ship for no apparent reason?" - Mal, Serenity
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word firefly
Zoë: Sir... you paid money for this? On purpose?
Mal: Ship like this, be with you till the day you die.
Zoë: Because it's a death trap.
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word slayer
In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. - Opening to Buffy the Vampire Slayer
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the word laconic
ANGEL: Hey guys. (He looks up) Oz.
OZ: Hey.
ANGEL: Nice surprise.
OZ: Thanks.
ANGEL: Staying long?
OZ: Few days.
DOYLE: Are they always like this?
OZ: No, we're usually laconic.
Think Joss likes that word or something? :D
December 18, 2007
elfflame commented on the list technobabble-3
Thanks. Mostly because I don't have a science list, and when I think robot, I think of stuff like R2D2 and C3PO and their ilk.
December 1, 2007