Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday

wordyweds

Wondrous Word Wednesday hosted by Kathy of BermudaOnion

These words found in the rivers run dry by Sibella Giorello

1) Troglodyte (page 37): According to Jack, Marvin was "a troglodyte." But even a dinosaur could help

n.

    1. A member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people that lived in caves, dens, or holes.
    2. A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.
    1. An anthropoid ape, such as a gorilla or chimpanzee.
    2. An animal that lives underground, as an ant or a worm.


2) Sconce (page 47): ...so I draped awhite bath towel over sconce, dimming the light.
n.

1) A sconce is a type of light fixture affixed to a wall in such a way that it uses only the wall for support, and the light is usually directed upwards.

2) A small defensive earthwork or fort.


3) Friable (page 90): And it was friable, eroded by the elements.

adj.

Readily crumbled; brittle: friable asbestos insulation.

4) Coulees (page 94): In 1929, he concluded that the coulees could only have been formed by a catastrophic flood because the sides were almost perpendicular and the bottoms were wide and flat, not narrow winding....

n.

  1. Western U.S. A deep gulch or ravine with sloping sides, often dry in summer.
  2. Louisiana & Southern Mississippi.
    1. A streambed, often dry according to the season.
    2. A small stream, bayou, or canal.
  3. Upper Midwest. A valley with hills on either side.
    1. A stream of molten lava.
    2. A sheet of solidified lava.

7 comments:

Mari - Escape In A Book said...

Great words you've got this week! None of them familiar to me :)

Here's my WoW post.

bermudaonion said...

Great words! I thought I knew the meaning of coulees, but I was way off. Thanks for participating today!

Margot said...

When I saw coulee I was thinking of Grand Coolee Dam in the western US but this doesn't exactly fit. I'll have to look that up.

ibeeeg said...

Great words!
Coulees is new to me.

avisannschild said...

Hmm, there must be another definition of sconce because the person in question surely didn't drape their bath towel over a small defensive earthwork or fort!

I had no idea that troglodyte had so many definitions!

Carrie K. said...

I love the word troglodyte!

Unknown said...

I knew about sconce, but not the others. Great selection of new words! :o)

Christy