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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: wreck

A wreck is a structure, building, or object that has been destroyed or badly damaged, a ship that has been sunk, and also a synonym for ‘ruin, destruction.’ It can be used figuratively to talk about…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: stooge

A stooge is an entertainer who gives lines to a comedian and is usually the target of his or her jokes or, more generally, any accomplice or assistant. In magic shows, for example, the stooge is the person who acts as if she or he is one of the spectators. Informally, stooge is used to talk about…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: hatch

To hatch means ‘to break out from an egg,’ as birds do when they are born, ‘to cause to emerge from an egg,’ as birds do by sitting on their eggs to keep them warm until they hatch, and, when we are talking about the egg, ‘to break open to let the baby birds out.’ Figuratively, it also means ‘to plan or bring something forth.’ Unrelatedly, the noun hatch is an opening in a…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: ash

Ash is the gray or black powder that remains after a fire and the color that resembles it as well. When volcanos erupt, they throw out pulverized lava and that is also ash. Ashes, always in the plural, are the remains or ruins of something destroyed, usually used figuratively, and also, literally, the mortal remains of a cremated body. Unrelatedly, an ash is any of various trees of…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: cop

To cop means ‘to seize’ or ‘get’ and, always followed by out, it means ‘to avoid a responsibility’ or ‘to back out of a promise.” Unrelatedly, you might have heard that cop is an informal word for a police officer and, in this sense, the word is sometimes used figuratively about a person who wants to regulate an activity or behavior. In UK slang, often in the expression “a fair cop,” it means capture and, always in the negative…

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