figurative use en
51armory — armory, arsenal, magazine have related but usually distinguishable technical military senses. Armory once carried the meanings now associated with arsenal and magazine, but in current use it has commonly two applications: one, a public building… …
52Flummery — (from Gerzensee) Flummery is a sweet soft pudding that is made from stewed fruit and thickened with cornstarch. Traditional British flummeries were, like porridge, often oatmeal based and cooked to achieve a smooth and gelatinous texture; sugar… …
53asperity — c.1200, asprete hardship, harshness of feelings, a figurative use, from O.Fr. asperité difficulty, painful situation, harsh treatment (12c., Mod.Fr. ápreté), from L. asperitatem (nom. asperitas) roughness, from asper rough, harsh, of unknown… …
54bird — {{11}}bird (n.1) O.E. bird, rare collateral form of bridd, originally young bird, nestling (the usual O.E. for bird being fugol), of uncertain origin with no cognates in any other Germanic language. The suggestion that it is related by umlaut to… …
55blight — {{11}}blight (n.) 1610s, origin obscure; according to OED it emerged into literary speech from the talk of gardeners and farmers, perhaps ultimately from O.E. blæce, blæcðu, a scrofulous skin condition and/or from O.N. blikna become pale. Used in …
56chalk — {{11}}chalk (n.) O.E. cealc chalk, lime, plaster, pebble, a West Germanic borrowing from L. calx (2) limestone, lime (crushed limestone), small stone, from Gk. khalix small pebble, which many trace to a PIE root for split, break up. In most… …
57curb — {{11}}curb (n.) late 15c., strap passing under the jaw of a horse (used to restrain the animal), from O.Fr. courbe (12c.) curb on a horse, from L. curvus, from curvare to bend (see CURVE (Cf. curve) (v.)). Meaning enclosed framework is from 1510s …
58ferment — (v.) late 14c., from O.Fr. fermenter (13c.) and directly from L. fermentare to leaven, ferment, from fermentum substance causing fermentation, leaven, from root of fervere to boil, seethe (see BREW (Cf. brew)). Figurative use from 1650s. Related …
59flop — (v.) c.1600, probably a variant of FLAP (Cf. flap) with a duller, heavier sound. Sense of fall or drop heavily is 1836, that of collapse, fail is 1919; though the figurative noun sense of a failure is recorded from 1893. Related: Flopped;… …
60gloss — {{11}}gloss (n.1) luster, 1530s, from Scandinavian (Cf. Icelandic glossi flame, related to glossa to flame ), or obsolete Du. gloos a glowing, from M.H.G. glos; probably ultimately from the same source as O.E. glowan (see GLOW (Cf. glow)).… …
