A vice is a habit or practice that’s considered immoral. Immoral or depraved behavior or sexual immorality is also called vice, the latter relating especially to prostitution. A fault or a defect can also be called a vice and so can a personal habit that is not that harmful. As a prefix, it combines with nouns to form…
As a verb, to toot means ‘to make a horn or whistle make a short sound’ or ‘to make any sound that resembles that of a horn.’ As a noun, a toot is the act of tooting. In US English, as a slang term, toot means ‘cocaine’ and as a verb it means ‘to take a drug by snorting,’ but these meanings are now…
To slay means ‘to kill violently.’ These days, it is quite a literary term, but it is also used, especially in US English, as a synonym for murder, particularly in newspaper reports. Figuratively, it means ‘to destroy or extinguish.’ Informally, slay is used to mean ‘to impress strongly or to overwhelm, especially with something funny…
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…