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Mar 24, 2009
This week's theme
Double trouble

This week's words
diptych
snake_eyes
portmanteau
zwieback
dicephalous


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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

snake eyes

PRONUNCIATION:
(snayk aaiz)

MEANING:
noun: A throw of two ones with a pair of dice. Since this is the lowest possible score, by extension the term is also used to refer to bad luck.

ETYMOLOGY:
Either from the apparent resemblance of such a throw to a snake's eyes, or from the association of snakes with treachery. The origin of the word craps, where this term is often used, is also derived from an animal: crab. A synonym of today's term is ambsace.

USAGE:
"Detroit's bet on big trucks and sport-utility vehicles has turned snake eyes."
David Kiley; Michigan: Epicenter of Unemployment; BusinessWeek (New York); Jun 24, 2008.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969)

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