19/04/2012
Today's word is: Tarry
MEANING:
verb intr.: To delay, stay, or wait.
verb tr.: To wait for.
noun: A short stay; a sojourn.
adjective: Of, like, or smeared with tar.
ETYMOLOGY:
For verb, noun: From Middle English tarien/taryen (to delay). Earliest documented use: 1451.
For adjective: From Old English teru. Earliest documented use: 1552.
USAGE:
"Although they've been criticized for tarrying, county officials say work is progressing."
Amy Schatz; Hospital Talks Continue; St. Petersburg Times (Florida); Apr 3, 1998.
"The story of Jesus's three-day-long tarry with the elders of the temple becomes, in Ms. Rice's hands, a fever dream."
Benjamin Lytal; The Gospel According to the Goth; The Sun (New York); Oct 31, 2005.
"Otters are mainly detected by their characteristic spraints*, which have a tarry smell."
Michael McCarthy; The Incredible Journey of an Intrepid Otter; The Independent (London, UK); Nov 21, 2008.
* otter's dung
http://wordsmith.org/words/today.html
verb intr.: To delay, stay, or wait. verb tr.: To wait for. noun: A short stay; a sojourn. adjective: Of, like, or smeared with tar.