Intermediate+ Word of the Day: dike

A dike, also spelled dyke in UK English, is a thick wall used to hold back water from a river or ocean and also a ditch. In Scottish English, a dyke is a wall, usually made out of stones, that divides or encloses land, and more generally, in UK English, an obstacle or barrier…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: fiddle

A fiddle is a violin. As a verb, to fiddle means not only ‘to play the violin,’ but also ‘to make fussy movements with your hands.’ Figuratively, to fiddle means ‘to manipulate something in order to adjust it.’ Colloquially, and often followed by the preposition around, to fiddle means ‘to waste time’…

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Intermediate+ Word of the Day: duff

Duff is a colloquial and slang term with many different and unrelated meanings. As a noun, duff is a slang term for ‘the buttocks.’ It is also a stiff flour mixture boiled or steamed in a cloth and flavoured with currants and spices (this meaning came about as a variant of the word “dough”). In US, Scottish, and Irish English, duff is also a term used in ecology…

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