Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day Podcast

gam • \GAM\  • verb
1 : to have a visit or friendly conversation with 2 : to spend or pass (as time) talking

Examples:
The two strangers discovered that they had a lot in common as they gammed the hours away on the long train ride.

"It always was -- and still is, for that matter -- infuriating to be ignored when superiors are gamming on about an operation in which you are the one about to risk life and limb." -- From Robert N. Macomber's 2010 novel The Darkest Shade of Honor

Did you know?
"But what is a gam? You might wear out your index-finger running up and down the columns of dictionaries, and never find the word." So says the narrator, who calls himself Ishmael, of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. These days you will indeed find "gam" entered in dictionaries; Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines the noun "gam" as "a visit or friendly conversation at sea or ashore especially between whalers." (It can also mean "a school of whales.") Melville’s narrator explains that when whaling ships met far out at sea, they would hail one another and the crews would exchange visits and news. English speakers have been using the word "gam" to refer to these and similar social exchanges since the mid-19th century.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 02, 2012 is:

stiction • \STIK-shun\  • noun
: the force required to cause one body in contact with another to begin to move

Examples:
Tire quality can affect stiction at the start of an auto race.

"Stiction is stationary friction. Starting the bolt turning takes more force than keeping it turning. The tighter the bolt, the more stiction can affect torque readings." -- From an article by Jim Kerr in the Winnipeg Free Press, December 30, 2011

Did you know?
"Stiction" has been a part of the English language since at least 1946, when it appeared in a journal of aeronautics. The word is a combination of the "st-" of "static" ("of or relating to bodies at rest") and the "-iction" of "friction" ("the force that resists relative motion between two bodies in contact"). So, basically, it means "static friction" (or to put it another way, as in our second example sentence, "stationary friction").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 01, 2012 is:

heyday • \HAY-day\  • noun
: the period of one's greatest popularity, vigor, or prosperity

Examples:
In its heyday, the circus was a major form of entertainment for small-town America.

"Here is Hemingway both in his heyday, soaring on the accolades of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, and his decline, precipitated by alcoholism and two airplane crashes that may have well left him with undiagnosed brain injuries." -- From a blog post by Alexander Nazaryan on the New York Daily News’ PageViews blog, December 13, 2011

Did you know?
In its earliest appearances in English, in the 16th century, "heyday" was used as an interjection that expressed elation or wonder (similar to our word "hey," from which it derives). Around the same time, "heyday" saw use as a noun meaning "high spirits." (This sense can be seen in Act III, Scene IV of Hamlet, when the Prince of Denmark tells his mother, "You cannot call it love; for at your age / The heyday in the blood is tame….") It wasn’t until the 18th century that English speakers, perhaps interpreting the "day" of the second syllable to mean "a time or period," began using "heyday" to refer to the period when one’s achievement or popularity has reached its zenith.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2012 is:

gambol • \GAM-bul\  • verb
: to skip about in play : frisk, frolic

Examples:
The children scamper and gambol about the playground with seemingly endless energy.

"Strong binoculars … allow patrons to spy on the sea otters, pelicans, cormorants and other creatures that gambol among the bay kelp." -- From an article by Peter Magnani in the San Jose Mercury News, October 10, 2011

Did you know?
In Middle French, the noun "gambade" referred to the frisky spring of a jumping horse. In the early 1500s, the English word "gambol" romped into print as both a verb and a noun. (The noun means "a skipping or leaping about in play.") The English word is not restricted to horses, but rather can be used of any frolicsome creature. It is a word that suggests levity and spontaneity, and it tends to be used especially of the lively activity of children or animals engaged in active play.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2012 is:

elixir • \ih-LIK-ser\  • noun
1 a : a substance held to be capable of changing metals into gold b : a substance held to be capable of extending life c : cure-all d : a medicinal concoction 2 : a sweetened usually alcoholic liquid

Examples:
While the new sports complex should bring some much-needed job growth to our struggling region, we should not regard it as the elixir for all of our economic woes.

"At Frederick Douglass Blvd. and 147th St., he noticed the giant wall mural boasting of the powers of an elixir, Omega Oil." -- From an article by Sherryl Connelly, Daily News (New York), January 2, 2012

Did you know?
"Elixir" has roots in the practice of alchemy; it was used in the Middle Ages as the word for a substance believed able to alter base metals into gold. Its later use for a drug purported to prolong one’s life led to its use in the names of medicines of mostly questionable effectiveness. Today, it is often used generally for anything thought capable of remedying all ills or difficulties, be they physical or otherwise. The word came to us via Middle English and Medieval Latin from Arabic "al-iksīr"; it probably ultimately derives from a Greek word meaning "desiccative powder."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2012 is:

Cook's tour • \COOKS-TOOR\  • noun
: a rapid or cursory survey or review

Examples:
The guide gave the group a Cook's tour of the types of sea life that they might encounter on their dive.

"Remain in the party zone. Do not drag other guests on an adventurous cook's tour of the property, sneak beyond closed doors, explore the master bath instead of the powder room, or snoop in the medicine cabinet." -- From an article by Krys Stefansky in The Virginian-Pilot, December 12, 2011.

Did you know?
In 1841, British missionary Thomas Cook convinced a British railway to run a special train to a temperance meeting, then proceeded to find passengers for the trip, an event regarded as the beginning of organized tourism. Within a few years, Cook was setting up excursions on a regular basis, and by the century's end, the Thomas Cook & Son travel agency was orchestrating travel around the world. The agency's tours were famously well-organized, but they were also known for herding travelers hurriedly from location to location. A Cook's tourist might see an impressive array of famous sites, but often only in superficial glimpses. Over time, English speakers started using "Cook's tour" for any hurried tour, and later, for any rushed activity or cursory review.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2012 is:

bright-line • \BRYTE-lyne\  • adjective
: providing an unambiguous criterion or guideline especially in law

Examples:
The company's new reimbursement policy makes a bright-line distinction between acceptable and unacceptable travel expenses.

"The NFL needs to have a bright-line rule for the use of electronics devices during games." -- From a post by Mike Florio at nbcsports.com, January 13, 2012

Did you know?
In the first half of the 20th century, courts began referring to a "bright line" that could or could not be drawn to make clear-cut distinctions between legal issues. Early users may have been influenced by the term "bright line," used by physicists to refer to the distinct color lines in the light spectrum. Before that, judges were content with wording that was more prosaic, such as "line of demarcation." In the second half of the 20th century, we began using "bright-line" as an adjective. Nonlegal types looking for unambiguous distinctions in other walks of life took a shine to "bright-line" sometime in the 1980s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 27, 2012 is:

arbalest • \AHR-buh-list\  • noun
: a crossbow especially of medieval times

Examples:
The destructive power of the arbalest was so greatly feared during the 1100s that some governments tried to outlaw its use.

"During forensic examination, it was established that the murder was made using [an] arbalest. " -- From an article in States News Service, January 19, 2011

Did you know?
The arbalest was the distance weapon of choice for medieval armies. It was first mentioned in 1100 in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of Saxon England. In 1622 British historian Peter Heylyn wrote that Richard the Lion-Hearted, the 12th-century English monarch, was "slain by a shot from an Arbalist." The crossbow's name is one of many terms that came into English from Old French when the Normans took control of England after the Battle of Hastings; our word is adapted from "arbaleste," the French name of the weapon. The French, in turn, derived their word from a combination of Latin "arcus" (meaning "bow") and "ballista" ("an ancient crossbow for hurling large missiles").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 26, 2012 is:

loath • \LOHTH\  • adjective
: unwilling to do something contrary to one's way of thinking : reluctant

Examples:
She was loath to admit her mistakes.

"Doctors are loath to testify against colleagues guilty of malpractice." -- From an article by Tammerlin Drummond in the Contra Costa Times (California), December 21, 2011

Did you know?
Many usage commentators point out that the spelling of "loath" the adjective is distinct from "loathe," the verb that means "to dislike greatly." Merriam-Webster dictionaries record "loathe" (along with "loth") as a variant spelling for the adjective, at the same time indicating that the spelling with an "e" is not as common as the form without it. Both words hark back to Old English, and the "e" ending in each has come and gone over the centuries -- but if you want to avoid the ire of those who like to keep the language tidy, stick with "loath" for the adjective and "loathe" for the verb.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 25, 2012 is:

intercalate • \in-TER-kuh-layt\  • verb
1 : to insert (as a day) in a calendar 2 : to insert between or among existing elements or layers

Examples:
Over the centuries, people of various cultures have intercalated months and days to bring their calendars into alignment with the seasonal year.

"The fossiliferous deposits of the Tatrot Formation outcropping in the area consist of pale pinkish-orange brown clays, brownish grey siltstones and shale, and greenish grey fine to medium grained sandstones intercalated with dark grey conglomerates…." -- From an article by M. A. Khan, et al., in the Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, December 31, 2011

Did you know?
"Intercalate" was formed from the Latin prefix "inter-," meaning "between" or "among," and the Latin verb "calare," meaning "to proclaim" or "to call." It was originally associated with proclaiming the addition of a day or month in a calendar. An instance of intercalation occurred in the earliest versions of the Roman calendar, which originally consisted of 304 days and 10 months and was determined by the lunar cycle. When the Romans realized that they had overlooked a two-month cycle during the winter, the king "intercalated" the months January and February. Eventually, the word's use broadened to include other kinds of insertion.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 24, 2012 is:

contaminate • \kun-TAM-uh-nayt\  • verb
1 a : to soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association b : to make inferior or impure by admixture 2 : to make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements

Examples:
Lucy ended up with a serious infection when her wound became contaminated by bacteria.

"Indian meal moths are the most common type of pantry pests, and with the female moth laying up to 200 eggs per week, they can quickly contaminate the entire pantry." -- From an article by Arrow Exterminators in Business Wire, November 17, 2011

Did you know?
"Contaminate," "taint," "pollute," and "defile" mean to make impure or unclean. "Contaminate" implies intrusion of or contact with dirt or foulness from an outside source (logically enough, as it derives from a Latin word that is a cousin to "contingere," meaning "to have contact with"). "Taint" stresses a loss of purity or cleanliness that follows contact ("tainted meat"). "Pollute," sometimes interchangeable with "contaminate," may imply that the process which begins with contamination is complete and that what was pure or clean has been made foul, poisoned, or filthy ("the polluted waters of the river"). "Defile" implies befouling of what could or should have been kept clean and pure or held sacred and commonly suggests violation or desecration ("defile a hero's memory with slander").