To swear means ‘to make a solemn declaration, statement, or promise.’ If you swear by something or someone, you are naming a sacred object or being a witness or you are saying you have great faith in something. To swear is also ‘to bind or make someone promise something by oath.’ As a legal term, it means…
To thrust means ‘to push forcefully or to shove.’ Sometimes followed by on or upon, it also means ‘to impose acceptance of something or someone’ and ‘to extend or present something.’ As a noun, a thrust is not only the act of thrusting, but also the main point of something, for example, an argument or discussion. In mechanics, thrust is the force produced by a…
A blunder is a careless and often stupid mistake. As a verb, to blunder means, obviously, ‘to make a stupid mistake,’ but also ‘to move or act in a clumsy or stupid manner.’ If you say something suddenly and without really thinking about it, that’s also to blunder, and if you spoil something by doing poor or clumsy work that’s…
If something is bleak, it means that it is bare or desolate or that it is cold or raw. When referring to people, feelings, or situations, bleak means without hope or depressing. Something offering little or no excitement can also be bleak. Unrelatedly, a bleak is a kind of fish, found mostly in Europe, and its scales have a silvery pigment that is used…
In US English, drapes, most commonly in the plural form, are a type of curtain (in the UK, we only use “curtains” for this). It is also the way in which a piece of fabric or clothing hangs. As a verb, to drape means ‘to cover or adorn with cloth,’ ‘to adjust a piece of fabric into graceful folds,’ or…
