51吃瓜 of the Day
catalyst
noun
a person or thing that precipitates an event or change: His imprisonment by the government served as the catalyst that helped transform social unrest into revolution.
More about catalyst
Catalyst was originally (at the beginning of the 20th century) a technical term used in chemistry, meaning 鈥渁 substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.鈥� By the early 1940s, the English poet and critic Sir Herbert Read extended the sense to a poet as a person who precipitates an event or change: “The catalyst [the poet] is unchanged, unabsorbed; its activity therefore not acknowledged.” Catalyst is irregularly formed from the Greek noun 办补迟谩濒测蝉颈蝉 鈥渄issolution, tearing down (especially of governments), a derivative of the verb 办补迟补濒媒别颈苍 鈥渢o pull down, destroy, dissolve (a political system), and the (originally Greek) agent suffix –ist. 碍补迟补濒媒别颈苍 is a compound of the Greek preposition and prefix 办补迟谩, kata– 鈥渄own, against, back鈥� (usually spelled cata– in English) and the simple verb 濒媒别颈苍 鈥渢o loose, untie, release, solve, resolve.鈥�
how is catalyst used?
What happened in Ferguson is often described as a catalyst鈥攖he beginning of a social justice movement that would sweep the nation.
On the heels of the Free-Soil convention in Buffalo, three hundred women and men held a women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Margaret Fuller was still in Italy, but it was her work that had served as a catalyst.
catalyst
rebus
noun
a representation of a word or phrase by pictures, symbols, etc., that suggest that word or phrase or its syllables: Two gates and a head is a rebus for Gateshead.
More about rebus
A rebus is a representation of a word or phrase by pictures or symbols suggesting that word or phrase or its syllables. Rebuses were formerly very popular with children in the Sunday funnies. The origin of rebus is disputed, but the most likely source is Latin 谤脓产耻蝉 鈥渂y things,鈥� the ablative plural of the grievously overworked noun 谤脓蝉 鈥渢hing, matter, circumstance, affair, property, wealth, etc.” 搁脓产耻蝉 is short for n艒n verb墨s sed 谤脓产耻蝉 鈥渘ot by words but by things.鈥� Some French authorities claim that rebus comes from the Latin phrase d膿 谤脓产耻蝉 quae geruntur 鈥渃oncerning the affairs that are going on,鈥� alluding to the satirical pieces composed and performed by the clerks of Picardy (northwest France) in the annual carnival, but this usage is later than attestations of rebus in the sense 鈥減uzzle.鈥� Rebus entered English in the early 17th century.
how is rebus used?
All I wanted to do was wish my fianc茅e happy birthday using emojis. But I couldn鈥檛 replicate the rebus of the classic Sandra Boynton : Hippo, Birdie, Two Ewes.
It [Seattle] created a new : a rebus that featured an eyeball, the 鈥淍鈥� symbol, and the letter 鈥淟鈥� (pronounced 鈥淪ee-at-L鈥�), above the slogan, 鈥淪eattle: soak it up!鈥�
rebus
adamantine
adjective
utterly unyielding or firm in attitude or opinion.
More about adamantine
Adamantine 鈥渦nyielding in attitude or opinion; too hard to cut, break, or pierce; like a diamond (in luster)鈥� comes from Middle English adama(u)ntin, from the Middle French adjective adamantin (feminine adamantine), from Latin adamantinus 鈥減ertaining to diamondlike adamant or steel; resembling diamonds (saxa adamantina), from Greek 补诲补尘谩苍迟颈苍辞蝉, an adjective derived from the noun 补诲谩尘补蝉 (stem adamant-) 鈥渟teel (the hardest metal); diamond.鈥� The traditional etymology for 补诲谩尘补蝉 is the corresponding adjective meaning 鈥渦nbreakable,鈥� somehow a derivative of 诲补尘芒苍 鈥渢o tame, subdue,鈥� with the privative prefix a-; more likely 补诲谩尘补蝉 is a loanword from Semitic. Adamantine entered English in the first half of the 13th century.
how is adamantine used?
Her dedication to the pursuit of equality for the masses was adamantine, however.
And the moment of commitment came with the special force that was central to his character: an adamantine, unshakable conviction that what he was doing was unequivocally right …
adamantine