Dear students,
I am taking a temporary break from this blog. I've been talking to students, and I've decided that a text blog isn't what would benefit students most.
Instead, I have an idea to provide free speaking practice to my students. It will take me a little bit of time to set it up, so be patient. I will inform you as soon as it's set up and ready. I hope to have it ready by February.
I just wanted to let you know that I haven't given up. I'm just changing my focus to provide something that will be more useful to my students.
I will leave this site available for now. I may post a few more words here, but I can no longer post them on a daily basis. Sorry for any problems this causes.
Thanks to everyone who has inspired me. I look forward to teaching you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Mark
Word of the Day: Greet
Greet (Verb) [greet]
- To say or do nice things when you first see a person.
- To respond to something in a certain way.
Related:
- To be greeted by something means to experience it when you arrive somewhere.
- A greeting is something you say or do to greet someone. Its plural is greetings.
- A common form of greeting is the handshake. In a handshake, people grab each other's hand and shake it up and down.
- A greeter is a person whose job is to greet people. Being greeted by a greeter might make people happier and more likely to buy things or say good things about the business.
- A greeting card or greetings card is a card with a picture and a message in it. They can be given for birthdays, holidays, or just to show someone you care.
Examples:
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| A welcome mat greets visitors as they enter my house |
- After living in Dallas all our life, you can imagine how much of a shock it was to be greeted by a huge snowstorm upon arriving in New York!
- He greeted his daughter with a big hug and kiss.
- My cynical friend thinks greeting cards are a way to say something without actually meaning it.
- What's the standard way to greet someone in your country?
- Her ideas were not greeted as enthusiastically as she had hoped.
- Mark
Word of the Day: Instant
Instant (Noun) [in-stuhnt]
Related:
- A very short time.
Instant (Adjective) [in-stuhnt]
- Happening really quickly.
- Able to be made very quickly.
- Becoming something very quickly.
- The adverb form of instant is instantly.
- Instantaneous means happening instantly.
- The phrase in an instant means right now or very soon.
- When food is described as instant, it means it can be made very fast. Common examples include instant coffee and instant noodles (to make these, all you have to do is add hot water!)
- Instant messaging is a way of sending messages instantly to friends over a computer or other device. Common instant messaging software includes Skype and Google Talk. Messages sent using this software are called instant messages.
- Instant replay is a recording of part of a sports game that allows you to see that part again. It can be used to show the best parts of the game on TV later on.
- The plural of instant is instants.
Examples:
 |
| A container of instant coffee. Just mix it into a cup of hot water, and you have coffee! |
- Instant noodles are a staple of a starving musician's diet.
- After hitting the lotto, all his worries vanished in an instant.
- From the instant I met her, I just knew she was my soulmate!
- You can get instant access to the latest sports scores and news at www.espn.go.com.
- Eating junk food may provide instant gratification, but you will pay for that choice later on in life.
- Our boss lets us instant message friends at work as long as we finish up the day's tasks.
- Mark
Word of the Day: Fountain
Fountain (Noun) [fown-tn]
- A structure that shoots water up into the air. It is a common decoration at places such as parks, gardens, and malls.
- The water that comes from a fountain.
- Something that rises into the air in the same way water from a fountain does.
- A machine that shoots drinking water into the air when a button is pressed. The person is supposed to open his mouth to drink the water from the machine.
- The source of something.
Related:
- The fountain of something means the source of something.
- The fountain of youth is a fountain of myth. According to legend, people who drink from this fountain will never grow older and live forever.
- A water fountain or drinking fountain is a machine that shoots water a small distance into the air for you to drink. They are free to use and provided at public places such as parks or schools. Water fountain can also refer to the kind of fountain the shoots water into the air.
- A fountain pen is a fancy pen. It doesn't require much pressure to write.
- The plural of fountain is fountains.
Examples:
 |
| A large fountain at Beijing International Airport |
- Some people believe Ponce de Leon came to America looking for the fountain of youth.
- The water from the water fountains in the cafeteria tastes like metal.
- Some people throw make a wish and throw a coin into a fountain; they believe that doing so will make their wish come true.
- I've worked ten fucking years for this company, and all they gave me for that was a fucking fountain pen!
- That math professor is a fountain of wisdom — good luck finding something he doesn't know!
- There's a beautiful fountain in the middle of the park near my house that I'd love to take you to see.
- Mark
Word of the Day: Gallon
Gallon (Noun) [gal-uhn]
- An American unit of liquid measurement equal to about 3.785 liters (in England, it is equal to about 4.546 liters).
Related:
- Gallon is commonly abbreviated gal. (the period is part of the abbreviation!)
- A quart is one-fourth of a gallon. Because the British quart is bigger than the American quart, the British gallon is larger as well. The abbreviation of quart is qt.
- Another common unit of liquid measurement is the pint. There are eight pints in a gallon and two pints in a quart. The abbreviation of pint is either pt. or p.
- A ten-gallon hat is a cowboy hat.
- The plural of gallon is gallons.
Examples:
 |
| A gallon of tropical fruit juice |
- An Olympic-sized swimming pool holds 660,000 gallons of water.
- We purchased a gallon of cherry ice cream for tonight's party.
- You're not seriously going to drink the whole gallon of soda, are you?
- A simple ten minute shower can use more than 40 gallons of water.
- When I'm older, I'd like to buy a huge fish tank, maybe about 300 gallons or so.
- Mark
Word of the Day: Shovel
Shovel (Noun) [shuv-uhl]
- A tool with a long handle and a scoop. It is used to pick up and move things such as dirt, sand, small rocks, or snow.
- The part of a machine that picks up and moves things such as dirt, sand, small rocks, or snow.
Shovel (Verb) [shuv-uhl]
- To use a shovel to remove snow from places such as sidewalks, parking lots, or driveways.
- To lift and throw something (usually snow) using a shovel.
- To quickly put a lot of something into a place.
Related:
- A shovel pass is an underhand throw. The motion is similar to how you would throw something using a shovel.
- A snow shovel is a shovel designed to shovel snow.
- A power shovel is a large machine that uses some sort of fuel to move large amounts of things such as dirt and rocks. It is also called an excavator.
- A steam shovel is a power shovel that is powered by steam. In the past, they were often used in construction. Today, a diesel-powered shovel is used instead.
- The plural of shovel is shovels.
Examples:
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| The shovel I used to shovel today! |
- During the blizzard, we made our kids alternate shoveling duty.
- Rich uses the snow blower in big storms, but when there are only a couple of inches out there he just uses a shovel.
- The quarterback made a quick shovel pass to the halfback, who broke a few tackles and went 60 yards for the TD.
- The largest power shovel ever built weighed a whopping 14,000 tons!
- To the amazement of his friends, Brad shoveled hot dog after hot dog into his mouth.
- An easy way for teenagers to make money is to shovel people's driveways during the winter.
- Mark
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