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Jan 10, 2011
This week's theme
Short words

This week's words
maw
limn
kip
gest
dun

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Has a short quotation you read somewhere ever made you think more than you would have thought after spending several weeks with a heavy tome? Perhaps that's what Friedrich Nietzsche had in mind when he said, "It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book." In this spirit, this week we'll feature five single-syllable words -- words that are short yet potent.

maw

PRONUNCIATION:
(maw)

MEANING:
noun:
1. The mouth, throat, or stomach of an animal, especially a carnivore.
2. A gaping hole.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English maga. Earliest documented use: 1150.

USAGE:
"Xiaobo Liu's wife said the toughest time for her was after he was arrested in 2008 but before he was indicted. He basically disappeared, she said, into the maw of China's security state."
John Pomfret; China's Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize; The Washington Post; Oct 8, 2010.

See more usage examples of maw in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. -Edith Cavell, nurse and humanitarian (1865-1915)

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