Word of the Day

Word of the Week

Have a little fun updating your vocab with our Word of the Week, kindly provided by Macquarie Dictonary. Find out what the most recent “buzz words” really mean and pass them on to your family and friends.

Machicolation

noun 1. an opening in the floor between the corbels of a projecting gallery or parapet, as on a wall or in the vault of a passage, through which missiles, molten lead, etc., might be cast upon an enemy beneath.
2. a projecting gallery or parapet with such openings.

2009 Word of the Year

shovel-ready
adjective (of a building or infrastructure project) capable of being initiated immediately as soon as funding is assured.

“The Committee felt that this word was associated with one of the major preoccupations of 2009 - how to avoid a recession. Shovel-ready projects were worthy to receive money from the economic stimulus package because they could provide jobs immediately.”

Honourable Mentions

heritage media (communications)
noun media, as print newspapers, television, etc., which, although strong and influential in the past, are thought to be losing viability in the face of changing methods of communication. Compare social media.

petrichor (ecology)
noun a mixture of natural oils and terpenes released by eucalypts which, when washed by rain into watercourses, is a signal to fish, invertebrates, etc., that the season is sufficiently wet to support breeding. [Greek petros stone + ichor fluid; coined by Australian geochemists Richard Grenfell Thomas and Isabel Joy Bear in 1964]

head-nodder (politics)
noun a supporter of a politician or other media figure who stands beside them in the frame of a television shot and nods his or her head in agreement with what the speaker is saying.
–head-nodding, noun

cyberbully (psychology)
noun (plural cyberbullies) 1. a person who bullies another using email, chat rooms, social network sites, etc.
–verb (t) (cyberbullied, cyberbullying) 2. to bully (another) in this way. Also, cyber bully, cyber-bully.
–cyberbullying, noun

roar factor (sport)
noun Sport the influence that a home crowd has on a referee or umpire in making adjudications. [from the roar of protest from the crowd at a perceived infringement by a player]