

Jun 27, 2013 This week's theme

Word coined from animals



This week's words

fishwife

skunky

gossamer

birdlime

chameleonic



See birdlime video in

National Geographic Word coined from animals A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg



birdlime PRONUNCIATION: (BUHRD-lym)

MEANING: verb tr.: To ensnare.

noun: Something that ensnares.

ETYMOLOGY: From birdlime (a sticky substance made from holly, mistletoe, or other plants, and smeared on branches and twigs to catch small birds), from bird + lime, from Latin limus (slime). Earliest documented use: 1440.

USAGE: "Some dozen of these villains had her birdlimed inside a shepherd's hut when our patrol chanced upon them."

Steven Pressfield; Last of the Amazons; Bantam; 2003.

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



A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)





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