A.Word.A.Day --skail

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Today's Word

skail

PRONUNCIATION:

(skayl)

MEANING:

verb intr.: To scatter out, spill, or disperse.
verb tr.: To dismiss or to disband an assembly, group, etc.
noun: A scattering or dispersal.

ETYMOLOGY:

Of Scottish or Scandinavian origin. Earliest documented use: 1300.

USAGE:

“Everybody stood up. The whole congregation rose upon the seats, and in every face was pale consternation. At last the minister said, ... the congregation should skail: whereupon skail they did.”
Philip Hensher (ed.); The Penguin Book of the British Short Story; Penguin; 2015.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I believe that in the course of the next century the notion that it's a woman's duty to have children will change and make way for the respect and admiration of all women, who bear their burdens without complaint or a lot of pompous words! -Anne Frank, diarist (12 Jun 1929-1945)

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