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Results tagged with word-usage
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user 319429
This tag is for questions about correctly using a word. The word has to be provided within the question. The question should be limited to the usage of one word. For the usage of complete phrases there is the tag phrase-usage.
3
votes
Permission (Verb) vs Permit (Verb)?
Permission as a verb is not in Merriam-Webster or Lexico (Oxford). However it is in Wiktionary with the meaning
permission [verb] [transitive]: To grant or obtain authorization for.
They give the ex …
- 10.8k
1
vote
I won't be able to make the meeting vs I won't be able to make it to the meeting
The sentences are the same in meaning but differ slightly in construction.
Make has many senses, but the most relevant is probably "reach, attain" (12a), from Merriam-Webster.
Make it meaning to rea …
- 10.8k
2
votes
When is "sex" sex, and when is it "gender"?
The question is based on a misapprehension, but the matter under discussion is sufficiently unclear that a clarification is needed. The original quotation from the Guardian is drawing a distinction be …
- 10.8k
1
vote
Accepted
How could "attires" or "garbs" be used?
Attires is not normally used in the plural in modern English, but you can see older examples, e.g. from Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who uses the word to mean costumes or styles of dress:
Let the suits …
- 10.8k
2
votes
Is estimatedly a word?
The word "estimatedly" is not in dictionaries, but you can create it according to established patterns. Whether you should use it or not will depend on what you are writing for.
It is not a totally ne …
- 10.8k
20
votes
Accepted
When did the psychological meaning of “unpacking” emerge?
This is actually quite an old use, with the OED's first citation from 1596.
The OED gives the meaning "1 b. transitive. figurative and in figurative contexts; esp. to reveal, disclose, or exhibit (a t …
- 10.8k
7
votes
Accepted
What kind of word is "Frankenstein" in this context?
It's called a denominal verb, according to an article on JSTOR's blog, which discusses examples such as "My sister Houdini’d her way out of the locked closet." The process of using a noun as a verb is …
- 10.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Is the word "salient" gradable?
It's probably one of those words (like "unique") which you should try and avoid using with "more" or "most", at least in formal contexts, because some people may take offence. It depends who you ask, …
- 10.8k
2
votes
Can I say a "voice 'rang' with irritation"?
His "voice rang with irritation" is fine. One definition of the verb "ring" is "to have a sound or character expressive of some quality". (Merriam-Webster)
Examples are:
in DH Lawrence "His voice ran …
- 10.8k
2
votes
What does sartorial connote?
Sartorial comes from the Latin sartor meaning tailor, and in the narrow sense it refers to tailoring and tailored clothes. (Merriam-Webster) However it is used more generally to refer to clothes in ge …
- 10.8k
36
votes
When and how did the criminal sense of 'grooming' arise?
It almost certainly comes from slightly older senses of groom, meaning to tend and prepare.
In the words of the OED, "groom" can mean:
To tend or attend to carefully; to give a neat, tidy, or ‘smart’ …
- 10.8k
0
votes
What is the original superlative form of well?
The answer is: there wasn't one. The OED says:
Like that of good adj., the Germanic base of well adv. appears to have had no regular comparative or superlative, these forms being supplied by formatio …
- 10.8k
2
votes
Accepted
Does (be to bear) _sound natural to you or it does old-English?
"be" + to + the infinitive can be used to express future events in contemporary English, mainly something that is arranged for the near future or something you are obliged to do. Wikipedia calls it th …
- 10.8k
6
votes
Was the word "inoculation" regularly used for introducing a disease for purposes other than ...
The word went from a botanical meaning in the late medieval era, to in the 18th century meaning near the modern sense, introducing disease agents to provide protection, and then in the mid-late 19th c …
- 10.8k
3
votes
“could see someone returned/return to the White House”
"...see Donald Trump returned to the White House" means Trump being elected, "...see Donald Trump return to the White House" could mean him going on a visit or tour.
The verb return has both transitiv …
- 10.8k