Lexicon: awkward – azure

a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |

1234567891011121314151617181920
2122232425262728293031323334353637383940
4142434445464748495051525354555657585960
616263646566

awkward, adj. [ON awk, wrong + ward, direction.] (webplay: hands, ungraceful).

  1. Unready; inexperienced; unprepared; [fig.] human; mortal; imperfect.
  2. Crossed; obtuse; out of focus; [fig.] blind; dull.
  3. Unsuitable; inappropriate; not fitting.
  4. Unlearned; unpolished; unskilled; not elegant; out of practice; [fig.] out of tune.
  5. Clumsy; ungainly; cumbersome; unbecoming; over-sized.
  6. Rough; coarse; crude.
  7. Uncomfortable; insecure; out of place; ill at ease.

axe, n. [OE] (webplay: head, wood).

  1. Sharp wedge-shaped blade; tree-chopping tool with a wooden handle; [metonymy] person cutting down trees with a sharp instrument.
  2. Executioner's tool; [personification] person with an instrument for beheading.

axiom, n. [Fr. < L. < Gk 'that which commends itself self evident', 'to hold worthy'.] (webplay: new, head).

Eternal law; established principle; unquestionable premise.

axis, n. [L. 'pivot, axle-tree'.] (webplay: earth, eye, parts, turns, tree, wheel).

  1. Magnetic pole; straight line around which the world revolves.
  2. Axle; pivot point; line parallel to the horizon passing through the center.
  3. Spine; spinal column; central nervous system.
  4. Equilibrium; support; security; assurance; stability.

axle (-s), n. [ME < ON axel-tre.] (webplay: turn, tree, wheels).

  1. Pole; magnetic center line around which a heavenly body revolves.
  2. Bar; hub; slender shaft of metal on which a wheel turns.
  3. Circuit; gyration; compass point; rotation around an axis; cycle of mechanical parts; [fig.] passage of time.

Ayre, [see Buenos Ayre, proper n.]

Azof, proper n. [Turkish azak, low < Mongolian 'moist place'; variant of Asov, Azoz, Asof.]

Inland sea; body of water northeast of the Black Sea near the Ukraine and Russia; site of Peter the Great's 1696 victory over the Turks in Eurasia; [metonymy] waves; breakers; the oceans; the deep; water currents of the earth; [historical] pen name of a Civil War correspondent for the 59th regiment of Massachusetts.

azure, adj. [OFr < L. < Arab. 'lapis lazuli, blue color'.]

Sky-blue; ultramarine; cobalt blue; [fig.] heavenly.

azure, n. [see azure, adj.]

  1. Blue sky; aqua-colored atmosphere.
  2. Lines of blue color; underlying blood vessels.
  3. Heaven.
  4. Lapis lazuli; blue-colored mineral; complex silicate containing sulfur.