The ninth edition of the Chambers Dictionary of the English language was published in 2003 by Chambers Harrap. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Originally published in 1901 as Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary, the dictionary is widely used by British crossword solvers and setters, and by Scrabble players. It contains many more dialectal variants and archaic words than its rivals, and is noted for its occasional wryly humorous definitions, such as "a cake, long in shape but short in duration", for "éclair": it is assumed these were originally smuggled in by subversive lexicographers - they were at one stage dropped by the publisher (e.g. a "cake long in shape with cream and chocolate icing"), but later reinstated as something of a tourist attraction. The crossword is the most common variety of word puzzle in the world. ... Scrabble is a popular word board game, in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a 15×15 game board. ...
Agapemone n a religious community of men and women whose ‘spiritual marriages’ were in some cases not strictly spiritual
baby-sitter n one who mounts guard over a baby to relieve the usual attendant
bachelor’s wife n an ideal woman with none of the shortcomings of married men’s wives
back-seat driver n someone free of responsibility but full of advice
bafflegab n the professional logorrhoea of many politicians, officials and salespeople, characterized by prolix abstract circumlocution and/or a profusion of abstruse technical terminology, used as a means of persuasion, pacification or obfuscation
brains trust n a number of reputedly well-informed persons chosen to answer questions of general interest in public and without preparation
buckwheat n a plant (Polygonum or Fagopyrum), its seed used esp in Europe for feeding horses, cattle and poultry, in America for making into cakes for the breakfast table, etc
devil-dodger n someone who attends churches of various kinds, to be on the safe side
fish vi to catch or try to catch or obtain fish, or anything that may be likened to a fish (such as seals, sponges, coral, compliments, information or husbands)
flag-day n a day on which collectors solicit contributions to a charity in exchange for small flags as badges to secure immunity for the rest of the day
Japanese cedar n a very tall Japanese conifer (Cryptomeria japonica) often dwarfed by Japanese gardeners
jaywalker n a careless pedestrian whom motorists are expected to avoid running down
lead out vt to conduct to execution or a dance
middle-aged adj between youth and old age, variously reckoned to suit the reckoner
not to mention to say nothing of, a parenthetical rhetorical pretence of refraining from saying all one might say (and is about to say)
perpetrate vt to commit or execute (esp an offence, a poem, or a pun)
picture restorer n one who cleans and restores and sometimes ruins old pictures
Santa Claus n an improbable source of improbable benefits
sea serpent n an enormous marine animal of serpent-like form frequently seen and described by credulous sailors, imaginative landsmen and common liars
spatangoid n a heart urchin, a member of the Spatangoidea, an order of more or less heart-shaped sea urchins with eccentric anus
table-turning n movements of tables (or other objects) attributed by spiritualists to the agency of spirits, and by the sceptical to collective involuntary muscular action
waist-line n a line thought of as marking the waist, but not fixed by anatomy in women’s fashions
xylophagan n one of the Xylophaga, a genus of boring bivalves
yoof n (esp of magazines, TV or radio programmes, etc) relating to, specifically aimed at, pandering to, or dealing with topics (thought to be) of interest to modern youth
Some pleasing words as defined by Chambers
batology n the study of brambles
beblubbered adj disfigured by weeping
callipygous adj having beautiful buttocks
deipnosophist n a person who converses learnedly at dinner, a table-philosopher
deliquesce vi to melt and become liquid by absorbing moisture
discombobulate vt to disconcert, upset
flimp vt to rob (someone) while a partner hustles
genethliac adj relating to a birthday or to the casting of horoscopes
goluptious adj delicious; voluptuous
incompossible adj incapable of co-existing
kakistocracy n government by the worst
leiotrichy n straight-hairedness
mulligrubs n pl colic; sulkiness
obumbrate vt to overshadow (compare with adumbrate, also, eg., to overshadow)
paneity n the state of being bread
pilliwinks n pl an instrument of torture for crushing the fingers
pinguitude n fatness
Ralph n the imp of mischief in a printing house
refulgent adj casting a flood of light; radiant; beaming
roscid adj dewy
rutilant adj shining; glowing ruddily
scroddled adj (of pottery) made of clay scraps of different colours
spoffish adj fussy, officious (archaic)
squabash vt to crush, smash, defeat
ultracrepidate vi to criticize beyond the sphere of one’s knowledge
Some words dropped since the 1901 edition
dacryoma n a stoppage of the tear duct
decacuminated adj having the top cut off
derbend n a waysideTurkish guardhouse
effodient adj habitually digging (zoology)
essorant adj about to soar
fiskery n friskiness (Carlyle)
flipe vt to fold back, as a sleeve
lectual adj confining to the bed
neogamist n a person recently married
nuciform adj nut-shaped
numerotage n the numbering of yarns so as to denote their fineness
pantogogue n a medicine once believed capable of purging away all morbid humours
scavilones n men’s drawers worn in the sixteenth century under the hose
tarabooka n a drum-like instrument
tortulous adj having swellings at regular intervals
wappet n a yelping cur
whinnock n the smallest pig in a litter a milk-pail (provincial)
zythepsary n a brewery (obsolete)
A sidewalk (North American English), or pavement or footpath (Commonwealth English), is a path, usually constructed of concrete (particularly in the United States, and Canada), asphalt, brick (particularly in Europe) or stone, designed for pedestrian traffic and often running alongside a road. ...
Robert Chambers were born into a relatively prosperous, mill-owning family in the Scottish Borders, and much of their childhood was passed during time of war with the French.
Robert Chambers had shown an enthusiastic interest in the history and antiquities of Edinburgh and his first literary effort, Traditions of Edinburgh, published in-house in 1824, won him the approval and the personal friendship of Sir Walter Scott, and remains in print to this day.
The Book of Days, Robert Chambers’ last publication, and perhaps his most elaborate, was a miscellany of popular antiquities associated with the calendar, and many, especially his family, believed that his excessive labor in connection with this book hastened his death.
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