2014年8月30日 星期六

shining, telepathic, transparency/ pays bribes


The family arrives at the hotel on closing day and is given a tour. The chef, Dick Hallorann, surprises Danny by telepathically offering him ice cream. To Danny, Dick explains that he and his grandmother shared this telepathic ability, which he calls "shining". 


Transparency: One in four pays bribes

A new report by Transparency International shows people believe corruption
has increased over the last three years, with the political arena seen as
most corrupt. One in four respondents admitted paying a bribe.

The DW-WORLD.DE Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=ew726iI44va89pI0

telepathic

Line breaks: tele|path¦ic
Pronunciation: /tɛlɪˈpaθɪk 
  
/

ADJECTIVE

1Supposedly capable of transmitting thoughts to other people and of knowing their thoughts; psychic:a team of telepathic superheroes who can read each other’s thoughts
1.1Relating to or characteristic of telepathy:suppose that telepathic communication between human minds occurs

Derivatives

telepathically

Pronunciation: /tɛlɪˈpaθɪk(ə)li/
ADVERB
transparency

(trăns-pâr'ən-sē, -păr'-) pronunciation
n., pl., -cies.
  1. A transparent object, especially a photographic slide that is viewed by light shining through it from behind or by projection.
  2. also trans·par·ence (-pâr'əns, -păr'-) The quality or state of being transparent.

[名]
1 [U]透明, 透明度;明白.
2 《写真》[U]透明度;[C]透明陽画, スライド, ポジ.
3 透明なもの;透かし絵.

shining

 adjective
: producing or reflecting a bright, steady light
: excellent or perfect

Full Definition of SHINING

1
:  emitting or reflecting light
2
:  bright and often splendid in appearance :  resplendent
3
:  possessing a distinguished quality :  illustrious
4
:  full of sunshine

Examples of SHINING

  1. Her latest movie is a shining example of what a film can be.
  2. shining
 moon formed a nice backdrop for our outdoor concert>

rakish, devil-may-care/presence of mind /wits/all guts and no wits/witless

Richard Burton, Rakish Star, Dies at 58
(Aug. 5, 1984)

It was the combination of my mother’s presence of mind and my devil-may-care activism which did the job: her wits and my guts, in other words.
这项工作的完成结合了妈妈的沉着和我不顾一切的行动主义:换句话说,她的智慧和我的勇气。
From a historical perspective, it seems on reflection that Japan’s nuclear energy policy has been conducted these past years on the principle of all guts and no wits. Otherwise, how could it be that there are so many nuclear power plants dotted around the country, all so close to the coastlines? How is it, if the relevant authorities had had their wits about them, that the supposedly multilayered mechanisms of protection surrounding the reactors seem not to have worked but to have failed all at once?
从历史的角度回顾一下,过去这些年来日本核能政策的实施似乎都建立在有勇无谋的原则 上。否则的话,这个国家怎么会有那么多核电站遍布在全国各地,而且距海岸线都那么近?如果相关部门有智慧的话,那么围绕核反应堆本应存在的多层保护机制怎 么会似乎没有起作用,而是突然失灵了?
What is the point of having different voices in the choir if they all sing out of tune in unison? It must have taken guts to promote such witless systems as the future way forward for Japanese energy policy.
如果大家全都跑调的话,那么存在不同的声音又有什么意义呢?把这种毫无智慧的体系推销为日本能源政策未来的前进方向肯定需要勇气,
devil-may-care
(dĕv'əl-mā-kâr')
adj.
  1. Heedless of caution; reckless.
  2. Jovial and rakish in manner.

rakish1

Line breaks: rak¦ish
Pronunciation: /ˈreɪkɪʃ 
  
/

ADJECTIVE

Having or displaying a dashing, jaunty, or slightly disreputable quality or appearance:he had a rakish, debonair look

Origin

early 18th century: from rake2 -ish1

rakish2

Line breaks: rak¦ish
Pronunciation: /ˈreɪkɪʃ 
  
/

ADJECTIVE

(Especially of a boat or car) smart and fast-looking, with streamlined angles and curves:a rakish Chevrolet
wit
(wĭt) pronunciation
n.
  1. The natural ability to perceive and understand; intelligence.
    1. Keenness and quickness of perception or discernment; ingenuity. Often used in the plural: living by one's wits.
    2. wits Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits.
    1. The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.
    2. One noted for this ability, especially one skilled in repartee.
    3. A person of exceptional intelligence.

2014年8月29日 星期五

Thistle, bleep, come to, cotton, cotton on, misread

The King and Queen of Pop were bleeped by CBS censors.


Small should have been beautiful; how Toyota misread China market
Reuters
T) blames its China underperformance on the widespread anti-Japan protests triggered by a territorial row. Some company insiders and dealers, though, say the world's biggest car maker misread the world's largest market. They say Toyota's launch of the ...



misréad[mis・réad

[動](-read 〔-réd〕, 〜・ing)(他)…を(…と)読み違える;…を(…と)誤解する((as ...));…の解釈を誤る.



cotton
intr.v. Informal., -toned, -ton·ing, -tons.
  1. To take a liking; attempt to be friendly: a dog that didn't cotton to strangers; an administration that will cotton up to the most repressive of regimes.
  2. To come to understand. Often used with to or onto: “The German bosses . . . never cottoned to such changes” (N.R. Kleinfield).
中文
n. - 棉花, 棉線
v. intr. - 和諧, 理解, 有好感
idioms:
  • cotton on 理解
  • cotton to 交好
日本語 (Japanese)
n. -
綿, 木綿, 木綿で作った, 綿の木, 綿糸
v. -
好きになる
idioms:
  • cotton on 好きになる, 理解する
  • cotton to と仲よくなる

Why Wikipedia works

From the outside, Wikipedia may look like chaos barely contained. "When people look at these sorts of phenomenon at Wikipedia, they misread the anarchy," Lakhani says. "All these people, thousands of people, there must be no rules! But there is a very ornate and well-defined structure of participation. One of our big learnings was to actually dive into the structure: What is the structure that enables these guys to produce this great resource?"
One element instilled by founder Wales is an ethic of self-governance and treating others with respect. In many online communities, personal insults fly freely, often fueled by youth and anonymity. Wikipedians, however, do not cotton to personal attacks. "The elbows are sharp on Wikipedia. It's not cuddly. But at the same time, I'm not entitled to call someone a bleep," says McAfee.


bleep

Syllabification: bleep
Pronunciation: /blēp
 
/


noun

  • 1a short high-pitched sound made by an electronic device as a signal or to attract attention: the autopilot sent back an acknowledgment bleep

  • 1.1a short high-pitched electronic sound used in broadcasting as a substitute for a censored word or phrase.

verb

[no object] Back to top  
  • 1(of an electronic device) make a short high-pitched sound or repeated sequence of sounds: the screen flickered for a few moments and bleeped

  • 1.1 [with object] substitute a bleep or bleeps for (a censored word or phrase): cable operators have bleeped out the accuser’s name

  • 1.2used in place of an expletive: “what the bleep are we going to do?” he asked


Origin

1950s: imitative.



The adjective cuddly has one meaning:
Meaning #1: inviting cuddling or hugging
Synonym: cuddlesome

come to
1. Recover consciousness, as in She fainted but quickly came to. [Second half of 1500s]
2. Arrive at, learn, as in I came to see that Tom had been right all along. [c. 1700]
3. See amount to, def. 2.
4. See when it comes to.
5. Stop a sailboat or other vessel by bringing the bow into the wind or dropping anchor, as in "The gale having gone over, we came to" (Richard Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, 1840). [Early 1700s] Also see the subsequent entries beginning with come to.


cotton
n.
    1. Any of various shrubby plants of the genus Gossypium, having showy flowers and grown for the soft white downy fibers surrounding oil-rich seeds.
    2. The fiber of any of these plants, used in making textiles and other products.
    3. Thread or cloth manufactured from the fiber of these plants.
  1. The crop of these plants.
  2. Any of various soft downy substances produced by other plants, as on the seeds of a cottonwood.
intr.v. Informal, -toned, -ton·ing, -tons.
  1. To take a liking; attempt to be friendly: a dog that didn't cotton to strangers; an administration that will cotton up to the most repressive of regimes.
  2. To come to understand. Often used with to or onto: "The German bosses . . . never cottoned to such changes" (N.R. Kleinfield).
[Middle English cotoun, from Old French coton, from Old Italian cotone, from Arabic quṭn, quṭun.]

Cotton on

Meaning
To get to know or understand something.
Origin
As early as 1648, in a pamphlet titled Mercurius Elencticus, mocking the English parliament, the royalist soldier and poet Sir George Wharton used 'cotton', or as it was spelled then 'cotten', as a verb meaning 'to make friendly advances'. 'Cotten up to' and 'cotten on to' were both used to mean 'become friendly with'. Whether this was as a reference to the rather annoying predisposition of moist raw cotton to stick to things or whether it alluded to moving of cotton garments closer together during a romantic advance isn't clear. John Camden Hotten, in his Slang Dictionary, 1869, opted for the former derivation:
Cotton, to like, adhere to, or agree with any person; "to COTTON on to a man," to attach yourself to him, or fancy him, literally, to stick to him as cotton would.
The number of citations that use 'cottening' in a courtship context and the use of the 'cottening up' variant would suggest the latter is more likely. For example, William Congreave's comic play Love for Love, 1695:
I love to see 'em hug and cotten together, like Down upon a Thistle.
The attaching of cotton strands to the bobbins of weaving looms is sometimes also cited as a source of 'cottoning on', but there appears to be no basis for that notion. None of the early citations of the phrase mention that context.
Cotton on toThe 'getting to know someone' meaning is now archaic and has been surplanted by the 'beginning to understand' meaning. 'Cottoning on' as we now use it derives from the meaning of 'attaching oneself to something', specifically an attachment to an idea that we haven't encountered before. This was coined independently from the previous meaning and two centuries later. It would seem to be a reasonable bet that at least one of these two meanings would have been coined in one of the major English-speaking cotton producing regions of the world, for example India or the USA. Not so; the 'become friendly' meaning was established in the UK and the first uses of the 'understand' meaning were in New Zealand and Australia. These do derive from the allusion to sticky cotton bolls. The earliest example that I can find of this is from the New Zealand newspaper The Wanganui Herald, June 1893:
The Kaierau forwards are just beginnng to cotton on to the passing game.
See also: the meaning and origin of 'cotton-picking'.


Thistle 薊 English


2014年8月27日 星期三

procedure, shaver, shave, crone, customary rates, in light of, conditions and procedures


New York State Hospital Data Exposes Big Markups, and Odd Bargains

By NINA BERNSTEIN
As part of an effort to make health care pricing more transparent, the State Health Department released an online trove of hospitals' median charges and costs for 1,400 conditions and procedures from 2009 to 2011.

Still havering about the  wretched crone!
Toyota to shave 2011 production forecast(12/06)

Insurers Alter Cost Formula, and Patients Pay More

By NINA BERNSTEIN

After compiling a database of customary rates for medical procedures, many insurance companies switched to a calculation based on Medicare rates, meaning higher costs for patients.


China urged to improve Taiwanese detainee rights
Taipei Times
Several lawmakers and local human rights groups urged China to improve conditions for Taiwanese detained in China in light of efforts to improve conditions for Chinese detainees in Taiwan. Several lawmakers visited a detention center in Yilan, ...



Crone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crone
The crone is a stock character in folklore and fairy tale, an old woman. In some stories, she is disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with magical or ...

 in light of

Also, in the light of; in view of. In consideration of, in relationship to. For example, In light of recent developments, we're postponing our meeting, or In the light of the weather forecast we've canceled the picnic, or He got a special bonus in view of all the extra work he had done. The first two of these terms date from the late 1600s, the third from about 1800.

haver

Pronunciation: /ˈheɪvə/
Translate haver | into Italian

verb

[no object]
  • 1Scottish talk foolishly; babble:Tom havered on
  • 2British act in a vacillating or indecisive manner: (as noun havering)she was exasperated by all this havering

noun

[mass noun] (also havers) Scottish
  • foolish talk; nonsense.

Origin:

early 18th century: of unknown origin


shave

v., shaved, shaved, or shav·en (shā'vən), shav·ing, shaves. v.tr.
    1. To remove the beard or other body hair from, with a razor or shaver: The barber lathered his face and then shaved him.
    2. To cut (the beard, for example) at the surface of the skin with a razor or shaver.
  1. To crop, trim, or mow closely: shave a meadow.
    1. To remove thin slices from: shave a board.
    2. To cut or scrape into thin slices; shred: shave chocolate.
  2. To come close to or graze in passing. See synonyms at brush1.
  3. To limit the number of (points) scored by one's own team in an athletic contest by point-shaving.
    1. To purchase (a note) at a reduction greater than the legal or customary rate.
    2. To cut (a price) by a slight margin.
v.intr.
To remove the beard or other body hair with a razor or shaver.

n.
  1. The act, process, or result of shaving.
  2. A thin slice or scraping; a shaving.
  3. Any of various tools used for shaving.
[Middle English shaven, to scrape, from Old English sceafan.]




customary[cus・tom・ar・y]

  • レベル:社会人必須
  • 発音記号[kʌ'stəmèri | -məri]
[形]
1 習慣的な, しきたりの, 通例の, 常習的な, 慣習[慣行, 慣例]の. ⇒USUAL[類語]
one's customary exercise
いつもやる運動
a customary practice
慣行
It is customary for [with] him to do
…するのが彼の習慣になっている.
2 《法律》慣習(法)上の
a customary law
慣習法.
━━[名](複-ies)慣習法集.
cus・tom・ar・i・ly〔kstmèrli;((強調))kstmér- | kstmr-〕


procedure

Line breaks: pro|ced¦ure
Pronunciation: /prəˈsiːdʒə 
  
/

NOUN

1An established or official way of doing something:the police are now reviewing procedures[MASS NOUN]: parliamentary procedure
1.1A series of actions conducted in a certain order or manner:the standard procedure for informing new employees about conditions of work
1.2A surgical operation:the procedure is carried out under general anaesthetic
1.3Computing another term for subroutine.

Origin

late 16th century: from French procédure, from procéder(see proceed).

Derivatives

procedural

ADJECTIVE

procedurally

ADVERB



2014年8月26日 星期二

怎麼讀英文 (沈政男); 台灣的英文會考走火入魔

沈政男

同學問我怎麼讀英文,片語要不要背?還說狄克生夠不夠?

呵,狄克生那本還那麼暢銷啊!
片語當然要背,跟單字一樣,都要多背,
但應該在文章裡頭背,放在上下文的脈絡裡才容易背,
當然應付考試,直接背片語集似乎效率比較好,
只是久了也容易忘記,又生疏了,
我想起以前要考大學時,買了一本常用語3000來背,
內容比狄克生多很多,例句與習題都寫得很好,
因為那本書是日本的高中參考書,國內拿來翻譯,
為什麼我會知道?因為我高中時常跑台中市中山路的三榮書局,
看日文書,找日本大學聯考題目來做,
那本書還在書房書架上,哇,都快三十年了,
我跟同學說,英文非常重要,尤其閱讀能力,
可以說是最重要的科目之一了,
上了大學以後,很多書都是英文寫成,閱讀能力決定了閱讀範圍,
同學說目前的英文課外讀物是《空中英語教室》,
嗯,很好的教材,只是上了高中以後,必須能讀英文報紙,
《中國郵報》、《台北時報》等等,
不少高中生都已做到這樣的程度,
同學還問我課文與佳句須不須背誦,
當然要啊!多背好文章對作文能力有幫助,
那有什麼方可以增進記憶力?
沒有!課文看了幾遍就必須能夠記起來,
如果你要考上醫科的話,否則將會很困難,
當然文法也要弄懂,特別是時態與假設語氣,
這是英文文法最困難之處,
然後就是多讀,我高一就在看《時代》雜誌了,......

李家同談英文會考:留學劍橋也0分
2014-06-10  12:05 〔本報訊〕清大孫運璿榮譽講座教授李家同投書媒體表示,在國中會考後,他寄了一個英文會考題目給6個人看,其中4位有博士學位,2位有碩士學位。且其中2位是大學校長,1位博士是留學英國劍橋大學。結果全部零分。其實只有2位作答,4位完全放棄。
  • 李家同指若以當年國中畢業的他來寫會考題目,是絕對寫不出來的,他認為會考題目是在打擊偏鄉弱勢孩子。(資料照,記者簡榮豐攝) 李家同指若以當年國中畢業的他來寫會考題目,是絕對寫不出來的,他認為會考題目是在打擊偏鄉弱勢孩子。(資料照,記者簡榮豐攝)
《聯合報》民意論壇今刊出李家同〈用功三年 大家都是C…〉的文章,李在投書中表示,弱勢孩子最需要的是關心和幫助,最不需要的是打擊,並指如果是當年的我,「絕對不會做這個題目」,教育部官員成天 說會考的目的是要知道學生的程度,但這種考題真的可以測出學生的真正程度嗎?
李家同舉例指出,1名非常用功的國中生,一直保持第一名,這是他很用功得到的結果,但會考成績公布後,他卻跟那些只顧玩耍的學生一樣,只得到C,「早知如此,他又何必用功?」
李家同在文中表示,教育部官員口口聲聲希望考生不要對分數斤斤計較,卻以此鑑別學生「程度」,他呼籲官員不妨走訪偏鄉學校,看看前幾名的學生究竟是對英數一竅不通,還是已學會最基本的功夫。李家同也「哀求政府」,希望他們關心、幫助弱勢孩子,而不是打擊。

cordon mar, tout, accelerant, importune, scalper


Professor Alexis Jay, who wrote the report, said she found examples of "children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone"
Report claims police and council agencies ignored victims, some of whom...
THEGUARDIAN.COM



Is ‘No Fun’ Sign Next? California Beach Bonfires May Be Doused
By IAN LOVETT
Air quality regulators, citing pollution and health risks, have proposed removing more than 800 fire pits that dot the coastline of Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Police released stills from the surveillance video of the attack seeking to identify the man they say incinerated a woman in an elevator in a Brooklyn apartment building.
 
 How Much Is Michael Bolton Worth to You?

By ADAM DAVIDSON


There's a reason scalpers have confused economists for decades.
  NYPD

Woman Burned Alive in Brooklyn Elevator

A man dressed as an exterminator was recorded on surveillance video dousing a woman with what a city official said was an accelerant and lighting her on fire.

黃牛票(touts) 。

Local airline Regional Express said the phone began glowing red and emitting dense smoke after the plane landed in Sydney on Friday.
Flight attendants had to douse the phone, which has since been handed to investigators.

Western leaders responded to the re-election of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, offering congratulations and advice. Whether he will receive the support of the people after a fraud-marred campaign remains unknown.

Touting New Security Deal, Bush Makes Final Iraq Visit

President Bush’s fourth and final trip to Iraq was interrupted(marred) by an incident in which a man threw his shoes at the president during a news conference.



tout (MAKE KNOWN)
verb
1 [T] to advertise, make known or praise something or someone repeatedly, especially as a way of encouraging their sale, popularity or development:
As an education minister, she has been touting these ideas for some time.
He is being widely touted as the next leader of the Social Democratic party.
Several insurance companies are now touting their services/wares on local radio.

2 [I] to repeatedly try to persuade people to buy your goods or services:
There were hundreds of taxis at the airport, all touting for business/custom.

South Korean Offer to North Is Marred by Killing of Tourist

By CHOE SANG-HUN
President Lee Myung-bak reversed his tough approach on North Korea and offered to resume dialogue and provide humanitarian aid, but a South Korean woman was shot by a North Korean soldier the same day.
Olympic torch goes to Africa

The Olympic torch has left Argentina for the East African nation of
Tanzania, after a relatively trouble-free run through Buenos Aires. A
heavy security cordon surrounded the torch, preventing a repeat of the
incidents that marred the London and Paris legs of the relay. Several
protesters tried unsuccessfully to douse the torch with water bombs.

Meanwhile, China has denounced the European Parliament's call to
boycott the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, if Beijing does
not start talks with the Dalai Lama about Tibet.


mar SLIGHTLY FORMAL
to spoil something, making it less perfect or less enjoyable:
Sadly, the text is marred by careless errors.
It was a really nice day, marred only by a little argument in the car on the way home.
I hope the fact that Louise isn't coming won't mar your enjoyment of the evening.

cordon
noun [C]
a line of police, soldiers, vehicles, etc. positioned around a particular area in order to prevent people from entering it:
There was a police cordon around the building.

 ━━ n. 非常(警戒)線; 飾りひも; (肩から掛ける)綬章; 【園芸】一本仕立ての果樹.
━━ vt. ((次の句で))
cordon off 非常線をはる.
Enlarge
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun



douse
also dowse
v., doused also dowsed, dous·ing dows·ing, dous·es dows·es. v.tr.
  1. To plunge into liquid; immerse. See synonyms at dip.
  2. To wet thoroughly; drench.
  3. To put out (a light or fire); extinguish.
v.intr.
To become thoroughly wet.
n.
A thorough drenching.
[From obsolete douse, to strike.]


Definition of douse

verb

[with object]
  • 1pour a liquid over; drench:he doused the car with petrol and set it on fire
  • 2 extinguish (a fire or light):stewards appeared and the fire was doused figurativenothing could douse her sudden euphoria
  • 3 Sailing lower (a sail) quickly.

Origin:

early 17th century: perhaps imitative, influenced by souse, or perhaps from dialect douse 'strike, beat', from Middle Dutch and Low German dossen



tout
(tout) pronunciation

v., tout·ed, tout·ing, touts.
v.intr.
  1. To solicit customers, votes, or patronage, especially in a brazen way.
  2. To obtain and deal in information on racehorses.
v.tr.
  1. To solicit or importune: street vendors who were touting pedestrians.
  2. Chiefly British. To obtain or sell information on (a racehorse or stable) for the guidance of bettors.
  3. To promote or praise energetically; publicize: "For every study touting the benefits of hormone therapy, another warns of the risks" (Yanick Rice Lamb).
n.
  1. Chiefly British. One who obtains information on racehorses and their prospects and sells it to bettors.
  2. One who solicits customers brazenly or persistently: "The administration of the nation's literary affairs falls naturally into the hands of touts and thieves" (Lewis H. Lapham).
  3. Chiefly Scots and Irish Slang. One who informs against others; an informer.
[Middle English tuten, to peer.]

touter tout'er n.


[動](他)
1 〈人・物を〉やっきになって宣伝[推薦]する, ほめちぎる.
2 〈取り引き・仕事・投票などを〉うるさく[しつこく]勧誘する[求める];〈物品・入場券などを〉押し売りする, 高く売りつける.
3 ((英))《競馬》〈競走馬の〉様子を探る;((米))〈競走馬の〉予想をして賭(か)けさせる.
4 …を見張る, 偵察(ていさつ)する.
━━(自)
1 (取り引き・仕事などを)しつこく勧誘する[求める];(…を)押し売りする;(…への)客引きをする((for ...));((英))チケットを高く売りつける(((米))scalp).
2 ((英))《競馬》(調教中の馬の)情報を探る((round ...));((米))予想屋をする.
━━[名]
1 ((英))だふ屋(((米))scalper).
2 (取り引き・仕事・支持などを)うるさく求める人;客引き, ぽん引き.
3 ((英))《競馬》競走馬のようすを探る人;((米))予想屋.
4 (盗賊の)見張り(人)
keep (the) tout
見張る.
5 ((北アイル俗))(警察への)情報提供者, タレコミ屋.



importune[im・por・tune]


  • 発音記号[ìmpɔːrtjúːn | impɔ'ːtjuːn]
(verb) Beg persistently and urgently.
Synonyms:insist
Usage:She had come to the conclusion that he spoke no other English, and so she ceased to importune him for information.

[動](他)
1 ((形式))〈人に〉(…を)うるさくせがむ((for, with ...));〈人に〉(…するよう)しつこく頼む((to do))
The children importuned us for candy.
子供たちはお菓子をくれと私たちにうるさくせがんだ.
2 〈人を〉(要求などで)うるさがらせる, 悩ます((with ...))
Don't importune me with your complaints.
うるさく苦情を言わないでくれ.
3 〈売春婦が〉〈客を〉誘う;〈売春相手を〉買う.
━━(自)
1 〈人が〉しつこくねだる[せがむ].
2 〈売春婦が〉客を誘う.
━━[形]=importunate.
im・por・tune・ly
[副]






scalp

Pronunciation: /skalp/
Translate scalp | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of scalp

noun

  • 1the skin covering the head, excluding the face: hair tonics will improve the condition of your hair and scalp
  • historical the scalp with the hair belonging to it, cut or torn away from an enemy’s head as a battle trophy, a former practice among American Indians.
  • used with reference to the defeat of an opponent:in rugby Gloucester claimed the scalp of would-be champions Bath
  • Scottish a bare rock projecting above surrounding water or vegetation.

verb

[with object]
  • 1 historical take the scalp of (an enemy): none of the soldiers were scalped
  • informal punish severely:if I ever heard anybody doing that I’d scalp them
  • North American informal resell (shares or tickets) at a large or quick profit: tickets were scalped for forty times their face value


Derivatives

scalper

noun

Origin:

Middle English (denoting the skull or cranium): probably of Scandinavian origin