Mainly historical now, as the trade has died out, a tinker is a person who fixes pots and pans and wanders from place to place looking for customers or, in US English, a person skilled in many minor kinds of work, especially mechanical or manual work. It also means ‘a clumsy or unskillfull worker.’ In Scottish and Irish English, it is the standard word for…
The blade is the flat cutting part of a sharp tool or weapon like a knife or a sword and it can actually be used as a synonym for sword too. Part of any mechanism that resembles this and that is used for wiping or scraping is also a blade and, generally, any thin and flat part of something too. In botany, a blade is the leaf of a plant, especially grass or cereal plants, and in sports, the blade is the…
To spout means ‘to throw out with force, as in a stream or jet’ or ‘to shoot out with violence.’ Figuratively, if you say something in a showy and pompous and oratorical manner, you’re also spouting. As a noun, a spout is a pipe, tube, or projecting lip used to pour out or to carry liquid along. A continuous stream of…
To weave means ‘to lace together threads, so as to form a fabric’ and also ‘to form by weaving,’ like you can do for example with a basket or some outdoor furniture. Spiders, and other small insects, weave webs. Figuratively, to connect and combine things as a whole is also to weave and also to move by zigzagging or winding. As a noun, a weave is a pattern or…
You probably know that the coast is the land next to and the region near the sea. But did you know that coast, as a verb, means ‘to descend or go down in a car or on a bicycle without using power?’ The related noun coast means ‘a glide down a hill or slope.’ Informally, to coast means ‘to progress or go forward with little effort,’ especially using…
Prey, which is an uncountable noun, is an animal or animals hunted for food by other meat-eating animals. A thing or person that is victim to an enemy, affliction, or disease is also prey. As a verb, to prey, always followed by on or upon, means ‘to hunt animals for food,’ ‘to attack in order to destroy or steal,’ or ‘to trouble…