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Jul 8, 2014
This week's theme
Words that sound dirty, but aren't

This week's words
hortatory
formicate
assonance
inspissate
cocker

formicate
Ants in jam

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

formicate

PRONUNCIATION:
(FOR-mi-kayt)

MEANING:
verb intr.:
1. To crawl like ants.
2. To swarm with ants.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin formicare (to crawl like ants), from formica (ant). Earliest documented use: 1854.

USAGE:
"Again, again, again, until you reach the inevitable conclusion of sky-rises, nuclear submarines, orbiting satellites, and Homo sapiens formicating the Earth."
Laird Barron; Shiva, Open Your Eye; Fantasy & Science Fiction (Cornwall, Connecticut); Sep 2001.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within. -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, psychiatrist and author (1926-2004)

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