A.Word.A.Day |
About | Media | Search | Contact |
|
Home
|
Apr 1, 2026
This week’s themeAll vocabulary, no cardio This week’s words slummock nictate
Art: Natalie Maxted Wordsmith Games
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargnictate
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
verb intr.: To wink or blink.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin nictare (to wink or blink). Earliest documented use: 1755.
NOTES:
Animals like cats, owls, and sharks have a nictitating membrane.
It’s a built-in translucent third eyelid to protect their vision. We
humans, alas, are stuck with regular old nictating.
USAGE:
“[The other half of the brain] was modelled on a cockpit -- full of
neurotic dials, smart-clicking switches, nictating red lights.” Julie Maxwell; You Can Live Forever; Jonathan Cape; 2007. See more usage examples of nictate in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he
is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.
-Abraham Maslow, psychologist (1 Apr 1908-1970)
|
|
© 1994-2026 Wordsmith