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Apr 2, 2026
This week’s theme
All vocabulary, no cardio

This week’s words
pandiculate
slummock
nictate
oscitate

oscitate
Two Ironing Women (detail), 1884-1886
Art: Edgar Degas

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oscitate

PRONUNCIATION:
(OS-i-tayt)

MEANING:
verb intr.: To yawn or gape.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin oscitare (to yawn), from os (mouth) + citare (to move). Earliest documented use: 1623.

USAGE:
“Disappointed of their normal African harvest, the granaries of Rome oscitated half-empty and forlorn.”
Reginald Hargreaves; Enemy at the Gate; Macdonald & Co.; 1945.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
You see, war is not the answer / For only love can conquer hate. / You know we've got to find a way / To bring some lovin' here today. -Marvin Gaye, singer and songwriter (2 Apr 1939-1984)

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