A skid is a low moveable platform on which goods are placed so that they’re easy to move or handle or a plank or bar, especially one of a pair, on which something heavy may be slid along. A skid is also an unexpected slide on a smooth surface and this is why the verb to skid means ‘to slip or slide’ mostly sideways, like vehicles sometimes do because of ice or wet, slippery…
As a verb, to loom means ‘to come into view in an enlarged and indistinct form’ or ‘to rise before your eyes with an appearance of great size,’ usually in a threatening and intimidating way. Figuratively, ‘to assume form as something that’s about to happen,’ usually something worrying or unpleasant, is also to loom. Unrelatedly, a loom is a manual or power-driven device…
As a preposition, much like until, till means ‘up to the time of’ or, when used with a negative phrase, ‘before.’ As a conjunction, again, like until, till means ‘up to the time that.’ As a verb, till is used in agriculture and it means ‘to work the soil’ in order to grow crops. Unrelatedly, and now mostly used in the UK, a till is a box or a drawer used in shops or…
A snag is something sharp that sticks out of something else. A hole or tear in a piece of fabric caused by catching on something that sticks out is called a snag as well and, figuratively, anything that gets in the way, particularly in the way of progress, is a snag. As a verb, related to this last sense, to snag means to impede or get in the way.’ It also means ‘to catch on a snag’ and…
The chin, you might know already, is the lowest part of our face, below the mouth. Did you know that chin is also the verb for a gymnastics exercise? Chin, mostly in the UK, is what you do when you grasp an overhead bar and pull yourself upward until your chin is above or level with the bar—it is often used in the phrase “chin the bar” or reflexively, as “chin yourself.” This is why…
