A Thing About Words
Posts From the Editors
A Growth Spurt
It’s happened again: this dictionary has gotten bigger.
As of last week, it’s grown by more than 1,700 entries, and existing entries have expanded by more than 700 new senses. We’ve added 3,200 examples that provide contextual information, and another 200 entries for some of the words people most frequently look up have been updated and enhanced.
Some of the new entries are for terms you’ve heard of and some likely aren’t. We thought we’d offer you a sampling of both.
Some offer information about the natural world:
Some about the not-so-natural world:
Some are creatures of the virtual world:
Some offer insight into the linguistic world:
Others offer insight into how people care for the body and the mind:
Some might appeal to your taste buds:
Others are more appropriate for your earbuds:
Some are kind of goofy:
One or two might save you your job:
Or just help you say things about your job without actually swearing:
Whatever they do or are, all of them are members of this vibrant, expanding language we share. And now they’re part of Merriam-Webster Unabridged too.
Emily Brewster is an Associate Editor and contributor to Ask the Editor. She has deep affection for prepositions and articles, and loves to see old words used in new and surprising ways. Follow @eabrewster on Twitter.
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I appreciate all the new words, but don’t see “bitcoin.”
Re eggcorns: By listening, my Japanese wife determined that those cute little American ground squirrels were called “cheek-monkeys.” That was so appropriate that we kept her from finding out the truth for years. (She also thought that those busy little insects spinning in the corners were “websters.”)
Thanks for correcting nerd’s etymological date (I have If I Ran The Zoo: If young Gerald McGrew ran the zoo / he’d have a nerkle, a nerd, and a seersucker too) and finally getting “database” as a single-word term; my old paper version has it only as two terms.
I like what Mr. Reynolds wrote. I, too, used to say “cheek monkeys” for chick monks. (I am also Japanese.)
I love the M-W Unabridged so much that I now coin the word ‘lexiholic': a philosopher who might as well have just been an etymophilic lexicologist.
Ow this so great. I’m always happy to see my favorite dictionary growing and adapting.
Eggcorns are so prevalent on the internet that it makes me facepalm.
I do not think that “eggcorn” is an eggcorn – an eggcorn, according to your definition, has to be plausible. I think it is a mondegreen, like “I led the pigeons to the flag,” which is completely implausible as a substitute for the original, “I pledge allegiance to the flag.”
I’m so so so so so happy that “eggcorn” has made it into my favorite dictionary.