To spit means ‘to expel saliva from the mouth’ and also ‘to expel anything from the mouth.’ ‘To throw out or emit something, as if it was saliva’ can also be to spit and, figuratively, so can ‘to express hatred or to speak angrily.’ Spit also means ‘to make explosive sounds.’ As a noun, spit means both the act of spitting and saliva. Unrelatedly, a spit is a bar for thrusting through meat…
A pan is a metal container, usually shallow, used for cooking things on the stove top or, in US English a shallow metal container for baking (in UK English, these are called “tins”). It is also a dish-shaped container, like you find on kitchen scales or the container in which gold is separated from gravel. As a verb, to pan means ‘to separate gold from gravel’ and informally, ‘to criticize harshly.’ In show business, to pan means ‘to move the camera…
We’re sure you know that a bat is a heavy stick or club used in sports, such as baseball or cricket, and the related verb means ‘to strike with a bat’ or ‘to take your turn as a batter.’ In UK slang, a bat is speed or pace, although this sense is now dated. Unrelatedly, a bat is a nocturnal mammal that you also probably know. There are also a lot of idioms associated with bat;…
In rugby and American football, a punt is a kick in which the ball is dropped and kicked before it touches the ground. To punt therefore means ‘to kick a ball before it touches the ground.’ In soccer, goalies also punt when they send the ball back into play. Informally, in US English, punt means ‘to delay or stall for time’ while thinking of an answer to a question or problem and, in UK English, ‘to sell or promote something in an insistent manner.’ Unrelatedly, a punt is a small boat propelled…
The end of the year is almost here, and we’d like to celebrate by inviting you to write a poem inspired by our Word of the Day site.
Prize: The winner will receive a $100 global Virtual Visa gift card. Runners-up (those are the top people whose poems we like but who do not write the one winning poem) will receive $25 global Virtual Visa gift cards. Winning poems will also be published on our site, daily.wordreference.com. We will announce the winners on Friday, December 23.
Click “Continue reading” for more information!
Dear Word of the Day readers,
We wanted to let you know that on Monday we launched the Basic+ Word of the Day. The Word of the Day you have been receiving will not change, but to keep things clear, we will now call it the Intermediate+ Word of the Day (yes, we know many of you are advanced; we chose this name because our goal with this Word of the Day is to write content that intermediate users can understand, even though there should always be plenty for advanced speakers of English to learn as well).
The new Basic+ Word of the Day is for people who are learning the foundations of English. Even if you are a more advanced learner, you might enjoy the videos we post, so check it out! To sign up for daily emails for the Basic+ Word of the Day, use the form on the right side of our Word of the Day site. And please, tell your friends! We have big plans for more Word of the Day content at all levels, but we can achieve our goals only with your help.
Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
The WordReference Word of the Day Team
In architecture, a lobby is an entrance hall that works as an anteroom or foyer. In terms of politics, a lobby is ‘a group of people who try to influence government officials to vote in favor of a special interest.’ Related to this, the verb to lobby means ‘to try to influence the actions or votes of someone,’ and also…
