You searched for: “or
are; are, ar; or, our
are (AR) (verb)
Second person singular and plural, and first and third person plural of the present indicative of "be": You are going and we are also going and Alton understands that they are going, too.
are, ar (AR) (noun)
A metric unit of area equal to 100 square meters (119.6 square yards): By careful measurement, Grant determined the size of his property to be 100 square meters (119.6 square yards) or one are.
or (OR) (conjunction)
A grammatical form suggesting an alternative: Blake was told to pay the price or simply leave.
our (OUR) (pronoun)
The possessive form of "we"; used as a modifier before a noun; relating to or belonging to us: We were reminded of our accomplishments in our hometown newspaper.

We kept our promise even though we were criticized for our actions.

Our parents had to decide whether they would purchase an ar and build their house or if they would purchase a pre-fabricated house. They are going to meet with a lawyer tomorrow with their decision.

oar, o'er, or, ore
oar (OR, OHR) (noun)
A long pole that is flat and wide at one end and narrow at the other end as a handle, all of which is used for rowing and steering a boat through the water of a lake, river, etc.: Each one in the group gripped an oar and started propelling the boat to the shore.

Oars are usually used in pairs with at least one oar on each side of a small water vessel and utilized by one or more rowers.

o'er (OR, OHR) (adverb)
An abbreviation for the word "over": The dance will be o’er soon and it will be time to go home.
or (OHR, UHR [when unstressed]) (conjunction)
1. Used to indicate an alternative, a choice, and an option between two possibilities: The owner of the bed and breakfast hotel asked, "Would you like to have tea or coffee for breakfast?"
2. To suggest an approximation, an uncertainty, and other options: It will take five or six hours to drive from the city to the vacation site."
ore (OR, OHR) (noun)
1. A mineral of rocks, earth, etc. that can be mined, typically containing a valuable substance; such as, gold, silver, etc.: The iron ore was excavated from the earth and then shipped to a smelter for processing.
2. A former coinage designation for Sweden, Denmark, and Norway: Lenora had an ore left from her Scandinavian vacation of several years ago which she saved to put in her collection of money from different t countries.

Well, Jim, should we use an oar or a pole to get o'er the lake to investigate the new ore deposit in the nearby hills?

Units related to: “or
(Latin: suffix; expressing ability, capacity, fitness, or "that which may be easily handled or managed")
(Latin: Medieval Latin amalgama, perhaps from malagma, "poultice" or "plaster")
(Greek: "bowl", or "lamb")
(Latin: harena, "sand" or "arena" in English, became the general term for "shows" and now it refers more to "sports", etc.)
(Latin: harena, "sand" or "arena" in English, became the general term for "shows" and now it refers more to "sports", etc.)
(Greek: fire, burn, burnt, burner; from kaustikos, "capable of burning" or "burning" and kaukstos, "combustible" and from kaiein, "to burn")
(German: Nickel, name for "Satan"; kupfernickel, meaning "Devil’s copper" or "St Nicholas’s (Old Nick’s) copper"; metal)
("affliction with little dragons" or "empty granary")
(Greek: abortion, untimely birth; primarily used to mean "congenital absence" or "defect" of a part which is normally present)
(Latin: to build, to erect a building; a building, a sanctuary, a temple; originally, aedes, "building a hearth" or "to build a hearth" because the fire in the hearth was the center of the home in early times since it supplied both heat and light; over time, the meaning expanded from the hearth itself to the home and building that enclosed it)
(Greek > Latin: that which is thrust into something; wedge, stopper; interpolation, obstruction; from "throw in" or "throw into")
(Latin: son, and by extension, "daughter; offspring" or "family member")
(Greek: even, level, smooth; used in the sense of "flat" or "plane")
(Greek: denoting u-shaped [upsilon-shaped]; hyoid bone, literally, "mere" or "simple" y, ypsilon)
(Latin: a suffix that forms English adjectives from Latin adjectives ending with -is or -ius with meanings about "pertaining to, relating to", or "characterized by")
(Greek: moths, butterflies; a combination of lepido-, "flake" or "scale" and ptero, "wing")
(Spanish: diminutive of mosca, "fly" or "little fly" from Latin musca, "fly")
(a group of viruses which are a common cause of gastroenteritis, or "stomach flu")
(Greek: said to be a stem for "all, every, whole", or "complete"; that is, a field of study in biology that refers to the whole set of omics including their -omics and -ome subfields in order to understand life as a holistic existence and organic beings as a whole)
(Greek: to show, to appear, or to display; making evident; literally, "to come to light" or "to bring to light")
(Greek: a combining form confused between three Greek roots and may mean "hunger", "dirt", or "drink"; and there is one Latin form referring to the "pine tree")
(Greek: mind, spirit, consciousness; mental processes; the human soul; breath of life; literally, "that which breathes" or "breathing")
(a Czech word, robota meaning "serf" or "slave" or "forced work" which is now applied to any manufactured device that is capable of doing work ordinarily done by human beings)
(Latin numbers as cardinals, "quantities"; and as ordinals, "showing order" or "designating a place in an ordered sequence")
(Latin: talis, "such like" or "such"; talio, "punishment equal in severity to the wrong that occasioned it" or "exaction of payment or payment in kind")
(Greek: blind, blindness [typhlos, blind]; denotes relationship to the cecum or the first part of the large intestine, forming a dilated pouch; also called the "blindgut" or "blind intestine" [caecum, "blind, blind gut", typhlon, cecum])
(Latin: beginner, novice [also, originally, a "young soldier" or "recruit"])
Units at Get Words related to: “or
(Latin punctus "a point" or "a mark"; the standardized non-alphabetical symbols or marks that are used to organize writing into clauses, phrases, and sentences, and in this way to clarify meanings)
(Latin origins of words in English characterized by "jumping, leaping", or "springing forward")
(shortened forms of spoken words or written symbols, or phrases, used chiefly in writing to represent the complete forms)
(generally a reference to indigenous people in general; being the first or earliest known of its kind present in a region: aboriginal forests, aboriginal rocks; of or relating to Aborigines or people of Australia)
(the origins and more recent usage as a term used in the performances of prestidigitation or "magic")
(modifying or describing parts of speech)
(descriptions of verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs)
(etymology of words or their original "true meanings"; a rich source of information regarding the earliest meanings of words as they migrated from the past into the present)
(Latin: to give "life to" and so, showing movements)
(scientific terms about the use of vehicles including cars, trucks, or any automobiles including their technology as related to transportation)
(a reverse acronym or a regular word that also doubles as an acronym using the same procedures as with acronyms, except that the letters of a word are presented to form a phrase which defines the word or for humorous reasons)
(a world of Biblical information for everyone who wants to know more about the Bible and its contents and the world from which it became known)
(phrases or Bible quotations that are derived directly from the King Jame's version of the Bible many of which are direct quotations)
(sources of information for the various terms listed in the Index of Scientific and Technological Topics)
(Algenol, an algae strain of microscopic plantlike organisms that feed off sunlight and carbon dioxide; a biofuel greener and cheaper than oil or corn-fed ethanol)
(many blended words have entered English since the 1800's; a significant number of which are corporate brand names)
(the relative locations of sections of the body, or bodily organs, and their actions and activities)
(a radiographic technique that produces an image of a detailed cross section of bodily tissue using a narrow collimated beam of x-rays that rotates in a full arc around a patient to image the body in cross-sectional slices)
(connecting words or groups of words)
(Jekyll-and-Hyde words; words that have two distinctly contrary or even opposite meanings)
(judicial or legal words that may apply to trial processes that determine the guilt or innocence of people which is ascertained by either judges or juries)
(lexicomedy, linguicomedy, or a chuckleglossary consisting of definitions which are markedly different from the accepted dictionary norm)
(dogs are considered to be the companions and best friends of humans and this list of terms will help all of us understand the topics that exist about our canine friends)
(a suffix that forms abstract and collective nouns added to adjectives to show state or condition; added to nouns to show a position, rank, or realm of; all of those who are part of a group or organization)
(an American Indian or an Eskimo; any of the languages of certain American Indians or Eskimos)
(words that have come into English directly or indirectly, from or through, Arabic)
(Greek: eu, "good, well; sounding good" + pheme, "speaking, speech"; mild, agreeable, or roundabout words used in place of coarse, painful, or offensive ones)
(characterized by speed and efficiency, or carried out promptly and efficiently)
(the four gemstones which are most valuable are diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds; and anyone would be impressed with a gift of a diamond, a sapphire, an emerald, or a ruby piece of jewelry)
(a glossary, or dictionary, of terms used in geology; the science of the earth including its origin, composition, structure, and history)
(when visiting old graveyards and examining the epitaphs on gravestones, there are certain words and phrases which could be difficult or impossible to understand without knowing what the words in this unit mean)
(this is an over-all listing of the special groups of topics listed on this site)
(There are estimated to be 10,000 million insects living in each square kilometer of habitable land on earth or 26,000 million per square mile)
(expressing a strong feeling or emphasizing what is shown)
(using logic or "reasoning skills")
(there are certain anatomic terms which present various situations; for example, a body part may be horizontal, as opposed to vertical; in front as opposed to being behind or at the back; above as opposed to being under, etc.)
(terms about the science and technology of metals and metal processing)
(topics about the study of the complex motions and interactions of the atmosphere, including the observation of phenomena; such as, temperature, density, winds, clouds, and precipitation)
(composed of varied things or made up of many different things or kinds of things that have no necessary connection with each other; from Latin miscellaneus, from miscellus, "mixed"; and derived from miscere, "to mix")
(words that don't mean what they look like or what many people assume that they should mean)
(the study of the deep seas or oceans involves the abyss or the "deep seas" which cover almost two-thirds of the earth's surface; showing applicable scientific terminology in this unit)
(solar electricity technical terms applying to electricity, power generation, concentrating solar power, or CSP, solar heating, solar lighting, and solar electricity)
(generally, flowering plants have special parts that make it possible for them to exist)
(based on words from The Washington Post's "Style Invitational" in which readers were given the opportunity to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and then to provide a new definition for the modified word)
(using the creations of pumpkins to illustrate some words)
(this page includes a presentation of the punctuation marks or symbols that are in general use in English writing)
(symbols at the beginning and end of a word or groups of words)
(obscure verbal usages that challenge your comprehension as to what they mean)
(obscure verbal usages that challenge our comprehension as to what they mean)
(A suffix forming nouns meaning: quality or condition: partnership; act, power, or skill: workmanship; relation between: friendship; office, position, or occupation: governorship; number: readership)
(bird goo left on a place; or a person no one likes)
(A poem that expresses misconceived judgements based on incomprehensible, or at least, inadequate information)
(Fiction or Non-Fiction? You decide.)
(theater as we know it was originated by the Greeks and many of their theatrical terms are still in use)
(time waits for no one; use it or lose it)
(Sesquipedalia Verba or Sesquipedalians are references to the use of excessively long words)
(knowledge about special topics that enhance a person's understanding about certain words)
(principal forms or tenses, functions, and conjugation formats)
(to make a careful and critical examination of something or to investigate someone thoroughly)
(sentences that illustrate the manipulations of words with one meaning into different applications)
(a suffix freely used to designate someone who is associated with, concerned with, or characterized by a thing or an expression; sometimes, with a jocular [humorous] or derisive [contempt or ridicule] intent; borrowed from Russian, a common personal suffix)
(there are many words which may be rarely seen by a vast number of people; however, they have been existing and they are still available for one's use or enlightenment)
(phyla rhymes or major taxonomic groups, classifying of living organisms, into which animals are divided and made up of several classes in poetic format)
Word Entries at Get Words containing the term: “or
Ablutions or Bathing, Historical Perspectives
Latin: abluere, to wash away unit.
air mass or air mass ratio
Equal to the cosine of the zenith angle or that angle from directly overhead to a line intersecting the sun.

The air mass is an indication of the length of the path solar radiation travels through the atmosphere. An air mass of 1.0 means the sun is directly overhead and the radiation travels through one atmosphere (thickness).

This entry is located in the following unit: Photovoltaic Conversion Efficiency Terms + (page 1)
Almagest or Mathematike Syntaxis
An astronomical manual written about A.D. 150 by Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus of Alexandria).

It served as the basic guide for Islamic and European astronomers until about the beginning of the 17th century.

It came from a hybrid of Arabic and Greek ("the greatest"); however, Ptolemy's name for it was Mathematike Syntaxis, "The Mathematical Collection" because he believed that its subject, the motions of the heavenly bodies, could be explained in mathematical terms.

The opening chapters present empirical arguments for the basic cosmological framework within which Ptolemy worked. The earth, he argued, is a stationary sphere at the center of a vastly larger celestial sphere that revolves at a perfectly uniform rate around the earth, carrying with it the stars, planets, sun, and moon; thereby, causing their daily risings and settings.

Through the course of a year the sun slowly traces out a great circle, known as the ecliptic, against the rotation of the celestial sphere.

The moon and planets similarly travel backward; hence, the planets were also known as "wandering stars" against the "fixed stars" found in the ecliptic.

The fundamental assumption of the Almagest is that the apparently irregular movements of the heavenly bodies are in reality combinations of regular, uniform, and circular motions.

The Almagest arose as an Arabic corruption of the Greek word for greatest (megiste). It was translated into Arabic about 827 and then from Arabic to Latin in the last half of the 12th century.

Subsequently, the Greek text was circulated widely in Europe, although the Latin translations from Arabic continued to be more influential.


—The word entry was compiled from information located in "Almagest", Encyclopædia Britannica;
Retrieved, May 09, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

This entry is located in the following unit: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 1)
angstrom unit, symbol: A or Å
A length equal to 10-10 meters or one-ten-millionth of a millimeter, used for atomic measurements and the wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.

A unit that measures the wavelength of light and equals 0.00000001 of a centimeter. Blue light has a wavelength of about 4400 angstroms, yellow light 5500 angstroms, and red light 6500 angstroms.

This entry is located in the following unit: Science and Technology (page 1)
ant caste, ant category, ant classification (s) (noun): ant castes; ant categories; or ant classifications (pl)
1. Queens, which are typically the largest ants in a colony: After selecting a nest site, a queen will begin laying eggs and caring for her brood. The first workers in the ant caste that develop assume brood care, leaving the queen to simply lay eggs.

Ant colonies can have single or multiple queens. The number of queens in multiple queen colonies varies by species, ranging from a few queens to nearly half the population in a colony.

Depending on the ant species, queens may live from months to years.

2. Males, that serve one purpose which is to mate or breed with the queen: In the ant caste, males typically die soon after mating or are forced to leave the colony and are normally alive solely during the colony's reproductive stage or period.

3. Workers, which are sterile, wingless females form the main members of the colony: In the ant caste, the workers perform the tasks necessary for the survival and growth of the colony; such as, foraging for or finding food, caring for the brood (eggs, larvae, plus the queen), and excavating or enlarging the nest.

This entry is located in the following unit: Ant and Related Entomology Terms (page 2)
astronomical unit, A.U. or a.u.
1. The average distance from the earth to the sun, which equals 149,597,870 kilometers or 92,955,800 miles.

For simplicity, an AU is usually rounded off to 93,000,000 miles or 149,637,000 kilometers.

2. An astronomical unit is used to describe planetary distances.

Light travels this distance in approximately 8.3 minutes.

atrium (s) (noun), atria or atriums (pl)s
In biology, a chamber at the entrance of a body opening: Janet read about <(>atriums being a cavity at the beginning of an orifice of a body.
This entry is located in the following unit: Ant and Related Entomology Terms (page 4)
Automobile or Car Terms

Lists of automobile words that are based on technical applications related to cars.

This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 1)
auxiliary verbs or helping verbs
These elements of verbs save users the trouble of changing the main verb to show present, past, and future tenses.

Here is a list of helping or auxiliary verbs: can, could, would, should, do, does, did, has, have, had, may, might, must, shall, and will plus the eight forms of the verb to be (am, are, be, been, being, is, was, were).

The auxiliary verbs are those which can't stand by themselves, but are always in combination with a "full verb"; for example, it is not acceptable to say, "We can home", but "We can go home." "Can" being the auxiliary verb and "go" being the full verb.

"Have" can act as both an auxiliary verb in the forms of the present perfect, past perfect, present perfect progressive, and past perfect progressive forms; as indicated by the following examples:

"I have gone to the store." (present perfect)

"She had already set the table before the guests came." (past perfect)

"She has been washing the car for the last two hours." (present perfect progressive)

"She had been washing the dishes before the phone rang." (past perfect progressive)

The verb "have" can stand alone as a full verb, too: "I have a basket of apples."

The verb "do" is about the same as "have". It can be used as a full verb or as an auxiliary verb:

"Jim's wife did the shopping today."

"The bus did stop and it did pick up the waiting passengers on time."

This entry is located in the following unit: verb (s), verbs (pl) (page 1)
Bibliography or Sources of Terms
Bibliography of topics and terms.
This entry is located in the following unit: Index of Scientific and Technological Topics (page 1)
Bibliography or Sources of Terms
Some of the references used to present topics and terms.
This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 1)
bilateral or cognatic descent
A rule of descent relating someone to a group of consanguine kin through both males and females.
Body Systems or Anatomy
Body Systems and terms.
This entry is located in the following unit: Index of Scientific and Technological Topics (page 1)
CAT scan or Computerized Axial Tomography scan
Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them into pictures on a screen.

The computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan can reveal some soft-tissue and other structures that cannot even be seen in conventional X-rays.

Using the same dosage of radiation as that of an ordinary X-ray machine, an entire slice of the body can be made visible with about 100 times more clarity with the CAT scan.

The "cuts" (tomograms) for the CAT scan are usually made five or ten millimeters (mm) apart. The CAT machine rotates 180 degrees around the patient's body; hence, the term "axial".

The machine sends out a thin X-ray beam at 160 different points. Crystals positioned at the opposite points of the beam pick up and record the absorption rates of the varying thicknesses of tissue and bone. The data are then relayed to a computer that turns the information into a 2-dimensional cross-sectional image.

CAT scanning was invented in 1972 by the British engineer Godfrey N. Hounsfield (later Sir Godfrey) and the South African (later American) physicist Alan Cormack.

CAT scanning was already in general use by 1979, the year Hounsfield and Cormack were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for its development.

Cognition or Processes of Sensory Input Terms
Cognition Theory and Applications by Stephen K. Reed; Thomson Learning, Inc.: 2004.
This entry is located in the following unit: Bibliography or Lists of Glossary-Term Sources (page 1)
Come up with any three numbers in sequence; for example, 123, or 345, or 456, etc.
Reverse the numbers that you chose and subtract the smaller number from the larger number.

The result will always be 198. For example, 123 would become 321; subtract 123 from 321, and the answer is 198.

Try it and see for yourself.

This entry is located in the following unit: Number Challenges (page 1)
conduction band or conduction level
An energy band in a semiconductor in which electrons can move freely in a solid, producing a net transport of charge.
This entry is located in the following unit: Photovoltaic Conversion Efficiency Terms + (page 5)
copper indium diselenide; CuInSe2 or CIS
A polycrystalline thin-film photovoltaic material (sometimes incorporating gallium (CIGS) and/or sulfur).
This entry is located in the following unit: Photovoltaic Conversion Efficiency Terms + (page 5)
couch potato’s fitness-studio nemesis or something that causes misery
Dreadmill (also known as a treadmill which is an exercise device consisting of a continuous moving belt on which a person can walk or jog while remaining in one place).
This entry is located in the following unit: Definitions in Deviant and Comical Format (page 3)
Criminal Court Words or Judicial Terms

Lists of legal words referring to judiciary or trial courts.

This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 1)
Dracunculiasis or Guinea worm infestation
"Affliction with little dragons" or "Empty granary" unit.
Eating: Folivory or Leaf Eaters
The special features of folivorous existence unit.
Economical or Business and Financial Terms

Lists of words about economics, including an extensive range of financial and business areas.

This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 1)
Entomology or Insect Terms
  1. An Introduction to the Study of Insects by Donald J. Borror and Dwight M. DeLong; Holt, Rinehart and Winston; New York; 1964.
  2. General and Applied Entomology by V.A. Little; Harper & Row, Publishers; New York; 1957.
  3. Insects of the World by Anthony Wootton; Blandford Press Ltd.; New York; 1984.
  4. Spiders of the World by Rod & Ken Preston-Mafham; Facts on File Publications; New York; 1984.
  5. The Ant Realm by Ross F. Hutchins; Dodd, Mead & Company; New York; 1967.
  6. The Ants by Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson; The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Massachusetts; 1990.
This entry is located in the following unit: Bibliography or Lists of Glossary-Term Sources (page 1)
expeditious, expedite: foot or feet, free to move unhindered and quickly
Origins of the words expeditious and expedite.
This entry is located in the following unit: Amazing Histories of Words (page 1)
experimental archeology, or archaeology
The replication of ancient technologies in order to better understand ancient production processes and the use of specific artifacts.
This entry is located in the following unit: Archeology, Archaeology (page 3)
f. or fem.
feminine; female
This entry is located in the following unit: Abbreviations Frequently Encountered (page 2)
Horology or Time Terms
Horology by Donald De Carle; Dover Publications, Inc.; New York; 1965.
This entry is located in the following unit: Bibliography or Lists of Glossary-Term Sources (page 1)
interjection or interjections
An interjection is an exclamation; that is, a word which is usually unrelated to the rest of the sentence but which is used to express a feeling or emotion, acts as a signal, or adds a conversational touch and ends with an exclamation mark!

Oh! I have never seen such a lovely garden before!

What! Say that again!

Come on! You are such an idiot!

Hey! Don't say that!

This entry is located in the following unit: interjection ! (s), interjections ! ! ! (pl) (page 1)
leech or physician
A former name for a medical doctor which came from an Old English word originally meaning "to pull".
This entry is located in the following unit: Medicine, Leeching for Health + (page 1)
metallurgical or materials engineers
1. Engineers who develop methods to process and convert metals and other materials into usable forms.
2. Technology is developed to produce ceramic substances, new compounds, and metal alloys for use in computers, spacecraft, and industrial equipment.

These engineers develop new materials for applications that require exceptionally high strength and heat resistance and they also determine how materials fail, using instruments; such as, microprobes, scanning electron microscopes, and X-ray diffraction and examine failed, broken, or contaminated materials.

This entry is located in the following unit: Metallurgy Topics or Metal Technology + (page 2)
Metallurgy Subjects or Metallurgical Topics

The importance of metals in the progress of the modern world.

This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 2)
Meteorology or Weather Terms
Weather, Nature in Motion by Anne H. Oman; National Geographic; Washington, D.C.; 2005.
This entry is located in the following unit: Bibliography or Lists of Glossary-Term Sources (page 1)
Meteorology or Weather Terms

Topics about meteorology which plays an important part of everyone's life on a global scale.

This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 2)
Mohorovičić discontinuity or Mohorovicic discontinuity
The interface between the earth's crust and mantle. Mohorovičić concluded that the earth consists of surface layers above an internal core.

He was the first scientist to establish, based on the evidence of seismic wave behavior, the discontinuity that separates the crust of the planet earth from the mantle.

According to Mohorovičić, a layered structure would explain the observation of depths where seismic waves change speed and the difference in chemical composition between rocks from the crust and those from the mantle.

Andrija Mohorovičić was a Yugoslav geophysicist for whom the Mohorovicic discontinuity was named (1857-1936).

This entry is located in the following unit: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 16)
Punctuation Marks or Punctuations with Symbols
The Punctuation Marks with Symbols and Explanations.
This entry is located in the following unit: Index of Punctuation Marks (page 1)
Schönberg-Chandrasekhar limit or Chandrasekhar-Schönberg limit
1. A mass limit for the isothermal, helium core of a main-sequence star above which the star must rapidly increase in radius and evolve away from the main sequence.
2. A limit on the mass of a main sequence star's core above which the star will leave the Main Sequence to become a red giant.

This takes place when the helium core makes up 10 to 15 per cent of he star's mass.

3. The maximum mass of a star's helium-filled core that can support the overlying layers against gravitational collapse, once the core hydrogen is exhausted; it is believed to be 10 to 15% of the total stellar mass.

If this limit is exceeded, as can only happen in massive stars, the core collapses, releasing energy that causes the outer layers of the star to expand to become a red giant.

It is named after Indian-born (Lahore, India, now Pakistan) American astrophysicist, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995) and the Brazilian astrophysicist, Mario Schönberg (1914-1990), who were the first to point out this limit and derive it.

This entry is located in the following unit: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 23)
Sesquipedalia Verba or Sesquipedalians Challenge

A reference to the use of long words; especially when verbal construction utilizing less amplification might represent a more naturally efficacious phraseology and as a result, verba obscura.

Enjoy your play with words by translating these into their “simple-English proverb” forms.


  • Verba Obscura #1: Those of deficient intellect usually press forward where members of the heavenly host dread to venture.

  • Verba Obscura #2: The time to smite the ferrous metal is when it is at a super thermic temperature.

  • Verba Obscura #3: A vociferous domesticated carnivorous animal belonging to the genus Canis generally is not prone to put his dental equipment to use when it is busy making a noise.

  • Verba Obscura #4: The feathered creature that appears before the usual time captures the small, creeping, legless animal.

  • Verba Obscura #5: The upsetting of a container of a white, nourishing fluid does not call for expressions of bereavement.

  • Verba Obscura #6: Conduct a careful survey before you commit yourself to a springing, forward movement.

  • Verba Obscura #7: It is one thing to conduct a hoofed, four-legged animal to a colorless and odorless fluid but it is another matter to force it to imbibe.

  • Verba Obscura #8: It is impossible to create a small money receptacle made of a soft, tenacious thread from the auricle of a female porker.

  • Verba Obscura #9: The Creator lends valuable assistance to those who practice self-aid.

  • Verba Obscura #10: An intermixture or succession of different things seasons and flavors a person's existence.

The translations of the “verba obscura” are located at this Translations of the "verba obscura" page.

There are additional sesquipedalian groups at this Sesquipedalia page.

This entry is located in the following unit: Focusing on Words Newsletter #08 (page 1)
Sleep and Sleeping Topics or Subjects

Terms applicable to sleeping for a greater understanding of the sleep process.

This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 2)
Theater Terms or Theatre Terms

Lists of theatrical terms and their origins.

This entry is located in the following unit: Index or Menu of Various Topics (page 2)
wanderers or positions of planets
The orbits and positions of the planets or "wanderers" could not be accurately accounted for before the invention of the telescope although star positions were known.

Understanding came with the revolutionary work of Galileo, Brahe, and Kepler which, together with Newton's contributions, finally swept away the Greek concept of an earth-centered universe and established the present model of the solar system.

The Greeks had simplified celestial mechanics according to the simple doctrine that "matter behaves according to nature."

This entry is located in the following unit: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 28)
wry (adjective), wrier or wryer, more wry; wriest or wryest, most wry
1. Referring to a twisted expression of disgust, disappointment, or annoyance: Wry humor and wit both describe a sense of humor that is a little twisted from what is normal.

A wry expression or wry humor shows that someone feels a situation is bad, but that he or she may also think it is slightly amusing.

2. Etymology: from Old English wrigian, "to go, to turn, to twist, to bend."
Twisted into an expression of disgust or disappointment.
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This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group W (page 3)