To wag means ‘to move up and down or from side to side,’ as dogs do with their tails when they’re happy. When we are talking about someone’s tongue, we mean that they are moving it in idle chatter. If you shake your finger at someone in reprimand, you’re also…

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To sit is, of course, to rest your body on your buttocks or to be located somewhere. Used as a suffix, it means ‘to take care of something or someone’ and, if birds sit, they cover their eggs with their bodies. If clothes sit on someone in a certain manner, it means…

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A flush is a sudden rush of emotion, a glowing vigor, or a reddening of the skin. As a verb, to flush means to redden, or to become red, and to inflame or animate. It is also, as you probably know, ‘to flood or wash away with water,’ as we do with…

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When you dub someone, you give them a name or title. This comes from an older use of dub, meaning ‘to make someone a knight by lightly touching him on the shoulder with a sword.’ It also means…

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To hoot means ‘to cry or shout’, especially in a mocking way. When we are talking about owls, it means ‘to cry’ and it can also be used if anyone or anything makes a similar sound to an owl’s cry. In British English, it also means…

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