October 2023

To nap means ‘to sleep for a short period of time,’ especially during the daytime. Figuratively, it means ‘to be off your guard.’ As a noun, a nap is a short period of sleep. Unrelatedly, a nap is the raised fuzzy end of fibers on the surface of cloth and the verb to nap means ‘to raise the nap.’ Nap is also used as a shortened version of…

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A hint is ‘a clue or an indirect or helpful suggestion.’ It is also ‘a very small amount of something’ or ‘an indication of something.’ As a verb, it means ‘to give a hint of something,’ ‘to imply,’ or ‘to suggest indirectly.’

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You might know from your email account, a draft is ‘the first version of a piece of writing, a drawing, or a sketch.’ In US English, a draft is also a…

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To wag means ‘to move up and down or from side to side,’ as dogs do with their tails when they’re happy. When we are talking about someone’s tongue, we mean that they are moving it in idle chatter. If you shake your finger at someone in reprimand, you’re also…

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To sit is, of course, to rest your body on your buttocks or to be located somewhere. Used as a suffix, it means ‘to take care of something or someone’ and, if birds sit, they cover their eggs with their bodies. If clothes sit on someone in a certain manner, it means…

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