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The lexical ambiguity of a word or phrase applies to it having more than one meaning in the language to which the word belongs. [4] "Meaning" here refers to whatever should be represented by a good dictionary. For instance, the word "bank" has several distinct lexical definitions, including "financial institution" and "edge of a river".
[88] (opposite of appeal to tradition) Appeal to poverty (argumentum ad Lazarum) – supporting a conclusion because the arguer is poor (or refuting because the arguer is wealthy). (Opposite of appeal to wealth.) [89] Appeal to tradition (argumentum ad antiquitatem) – a conclusion supported solely because it has long been held to be true. [90]
Climax – an arrangement of phrases or topics in increasing order, as with good, better, best. Colon – a rhetorical figure consisting of a clause that is grammatically, but not logically, complete. Colloquialism – a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.
(colloq.) "formal" wear (usu. tuxedos for men and ball gowns for women.) fanny vagina (slang), vulva (vulgar slang) (fanny about or fanny around, vulgar slang) to mess about or procrastinate ("Stop fannying about and hit it with the hammer") buttocks (colloquial); hence fanny pack (UK: bum bag) featherbed
the word (of unknown origin) has variously denoted a pantofle, a low thin sole shoe, a formal men's shoe (Reebok Pump) a brand of athletic shoe with an internal inflation mechanism usu. women's high(ish) heeled shoe (UK similar: court shoe, q.v.) punk follower of Punk rock
The word poecilonym is a rare synonym of the word synonym. It is not entered in most major dictionaries and is a curiosity or piece of trivia for being an autological word because of its meta quality as a synonym of synonym. Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings.
Irony: use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning. [18] Kenning: using a compound word neologism to form a metonym. Litotes: emphasizing the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite. Malapropism: using a word through confusion with a word that sounds similar.
A aggravate – Some have argued that this word should not be used in the sense of "to annoy" or "to oppress", but only to mean "to make worse". According to AHDI, the use of "aggravate" as "annoy" occurs in English as far back as the 17th century. In Latin, from which the word was borrowed, both meanings were used. Sixty-eight percent of AHD4's usage panel approves of its use in "It's the ...