Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Thursday Thirteen 156: Spelling Bee


The Scripps National Spelling Bee is taking place in Washington, DC this week. Finals air on ABC this Friday night (8 EDT/7 CDT). This year's event features 273 spellers ranging in age from 8 to 15. The youngest speller, Vanya Shivashankar, is sister to the 2009 champion, Kavya Shivashankar. You know what Spelling Bee week means—it's time to ramp up your vocabulary!

1. goad \GOHD\, verb:
To prick or drive with, or as if with, a goad; prod; incite. To goad into action.

2. oleaginous \oh-lee-AJ-uh-nuhs\, adjective:
a. Having the nature or qualities of oil.
b. Unctuous; fawning; smarmy.
She pulled away from the oleaginous politician.

3. omnific \om-NIF-ik\, adjective:
Creating all things; having unlimited powers of creation.
(Omnific also occurs as omnificent and ominificence, a noun.) An author is omnific, the master of his (or her) universe.

4. scarper \SKAHR-puhr\, verb intr.
To flee, especially without paying one's bills. To scarper off.

5. cerebrate \SER-uh-brayt\ verb tr., intr.
To use the mind: to think, reason.

6. vellicate \VEL-i-kayt\ verb tr., intr.
a. To twitch or to cause to twitch.
b. To pluck, nip, irritate, etc.

7. malapert \MAL-uh-purt\, adjective:
Unbecomingly bold or saucy.
Had it not been for the account of some malapert agent...

noun:
A malapert person.

8. suspire \suh-SPAHY-uhr\, verb:
To utter with long, sighing breaths.

9. habitué \huh-BICH-oo-ey\, noun:
One who frequents a particular place, especially a place offering a specific pleasurable activity.

10. susurration \sus ə rā'shən\, noun
A soft, whispering or rustling sound; a murmur. The susurration of leaves.

11. costive \kaw-stiv\, adjective
a. suffering from constipation; constipated.
b. slow in action or in expressing ideas, opinions, etc. (This was the sense used in the book in which I encountered this word)
c. Obsolete. stingy; tight-fisted.

12. qui vive \kee-VEEV\ noun
alert, lookout. Newspaper copy editors must always be on the qui vive for factual as well as grammatical errors.

13. poniard [pon-yerd], noun
1. a small, slender dagger.

–verb (used with object)
2. to stab with a poniard.





LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:
(Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)

Alice Audrey * Shelley Munro * Janice Seagraves
Adelle Laudan * Kimberly Menozzi * CountryDew
Jennifer McKenzie * Angelika Devlyn * Jana * Darla Sands
Elise Logan * PM Rousseau * Tatiana Caldwell


More Thursday Thirteen participants




22 comments:

Alice Audrey said...

Ah, so that's how you spell #9. Not that I can find all those keys on my keyboard anyway.

vellicate is a fun one. I'll have to find a place to use it.

Shelley Munro said...

I like scarper. That's a fun word.

Unknown said...

I've snagged a couple of these 'new to me' words. Thanks!
Happy T13!

Kimberly Menozzi said...

I love this post. I want to hug this post. But it is not possible! Life is so unfair...

Heather said...

Alice: Ah, habitué is an easy word to spell/type. Or maybe it's just the French Goddess in me that loves that word. *g*

Shelley: Isn't 'scarper' a fun one? And I actually encountered it in a mystery I read last month!

Adelle: Cool beans! *VBG*

Kimberly: I had a feeling that you of all people would like this post. So how many are you sharing with your students this year? *G*

Angelika Devlyn said...

Hi there! Some great words. I scarper all the time :)

Here's my T13 - Hope you can drop by. ;)

Angel

CountryDew said...

Wow, interesting words! Great list. I was reminded of the spelling bee when I was in school. Missed the word "haunted" when I was in the fourth or fifth grade and never have lived it down. . . .

Heather said...

Angel: LOL...Isn't that an awesome word?

Anita: Thank you. The word I remember missing in early spelling bees is 'blossom.' You can bet I remember how to spell it now!

Darla M Sands said...

This reminds me how I used to enjoy a word-a-day website. Thanks for sharing!

Jana said...

My brain hurts. BIG WORDS! BIG WORDS!

LOL

J/K

Thanks for the vocab lesson, Trixie. Been a long time since you made me cerebrate like that. I've missed it. I might have to become all malapert and goad you into doing it more often. ;-)

Heather said...

Darla: I love word-a-day sites. I actually sub to (ahem) three.

Jana: Oh, please! Melodramatic much? Dontcha miss ye old vocab dungeon days? I will try to do a couple more such posts before the end of the year just for you! ;)

Janice Seagraves said...

Fun list, I enjoyed trying to pronounce them. I only knew a couple, but scarper is a fun new one to me.

Happy TT.
Janice~

Tatiana Caldwell said...

I love learning new words. There's a few on here that I'd like to add to my arsenal.

Heather said...

Janice: 'Scarper' seems to be the overall fave of the day, LOL!

Tatiana: By all means, add away! *G*

Elise Logan said...

poniard makes me think of Much Ado About Nothing. Benedick says of Beatrice "She speaks poniards, and every word stabs"

Jia said...

You brought out my inner geek and memories of reading the dictionary as a child.

Unknown said...

Oh, I like #6. I think I should use that in a sex scene!

Heather said...

Elise: OH, good one! Not familiar with that particular play, but I love the usage.

Jia: Geek away! Reading the dictionary is one of the wonderful aspects you lose with electronic media. You go to look up one word, and your eye wanders so you find another cool word, and then another, and another....

Bratty: I could definitely see that working in a sex scene, LOL.

Divaa Divine said...

you have boggled my vocab a bit

Mush 13

Heather said...

Divaa: LOL...need some Tylenol? *g*

Alice Audrey said...

Anything with an accent makes me squint at my keyboard.

Heather said...

Yes, accents can be a little tricky. I guess I'm used to them, having studied French through college.