hit the gym, melt pounds, blowpipe, stereography

. Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

By John Cloud

You've heard it for years: to lose weight, hit the gym. But while physical activity is crucial for good health, it doesn't always melt pounds -- in fact, it can add them. Here's why

stereography

Pronunciation: /ˌstɛrɪˈɒgrəfi, ˌstɪərɪ-/

noun

[mass noun]

• the depiction or representation of three-dimensional things by projection on to a two-dimensional surface, e.g. in cartography.

Derivatives

stereograph

noun

stereographic

adjective

stereographically

adverb

blowpipe

Pronunciation: /ˈbləʊpʌɪp/

Translate blowpipe | into Italian | into Spanish

noun

• 1a primitive weapon consisting of a long tube through which an arrow or dart is propelled by force of the breath.

• 2a long tube by means of which molten glass is blown into the required shape.
• a tube used to intensify the heat of a flame by blowing air or other gas through it at high pressure.

hit
v., hit, hit·ting, hits. v.tr.

1. 1. To come into contact with forcefully; strike: The car hit the guardrail.
   2. To reach with or as if with a blow: The bullet hit the police officer in the shoulder.
2. 1. To cause to come into contact: She hit her hand against the wall.
   2. To deal a blow to.
   3. To strike with a missile: fired and hit the target.
3. To press or push (a key or button, for example): hit the return key by mistake.
4. Sports.
   1. To reach with a propelled ball or puck: hit the running back with a pass.
   2. To score in this way: She hit the winning basket.
   3. To perform (a shot or maneuver) successfully: couldn't hit the jump shot.
   4. To propel with a stroke or blow: hit the ball onto the green.
5. Baseball.
   1. To execute (a base hit) successfully: hit a single.
   2. To bat against (a pitcher or kind of pitch) successfully: can't hit a slider.
6. 1. To affect, especially adversely: The company was hit hard by the recession. Influenza hit the elderly the hardest.
   2. To be affected by (a negative development): Their marriage hit a bad patch.
7. Informal.
   1. To win (a prize, for example), especially in a lottery.
   2. To arise suddenly in the mind of; occur to: It finally hit him that she might be his long-lost sister.
8. 1. Informal. To go to or arrive at: We hit the beach early.
   2. Informal. To attain or reach: Monthly sales hit a new high. She hit 40 on her last birthday.
   3. To produce or represent accurately: trying to hit the right note.
9. Games. To deal cards to.
10. Sports. To bite on or take (bait or a lure). Used of a fish.

v.intr.

1. To strike or deal a blow.
2. 1. To come into contact with something; collide.
   2. To attack: The raiders hit at dawn.
   3. To happen or occur: The storm hit without warning.
3. To achieve or find something desired or sought: finally hit on the answer; hit upon a solution to the problem.
4. Baseball. To bat or bat well: Their slugger hasn't been hitting lately.
5. Sports. To score by shooting, especially in basketball: hit on 7 of 8 shots.
6. To ignite a mixture of air and fuel in the cylinders. Used of an internal-combustion engine.

n.

1. 1. A collision or impact.
   2. A successfully executed shot, blow, thrust, or throw.
   3. Sports. A deliberate collision with an opponent, such as a body check in ice hockey.
2. A successful or popular venture: a Broadway hit.
3. Computer Science.
   1. A match of data in a search string against data that one is searching.
   2. A connection made to a website over the Internet or another network: Our company's website gets about 2,000 hits daily.
4. An apt or effective remark.
5. (Abbr. H) Baseball. A base hit.
6. Slang.
   1. A dose of a narcotic drug.
   2. A puff of a cigarette or a pipe.
7. Slang. A murder planned and carried out usually by a member of an underworld syndicate.

melt
v., melt·ed, melt·ing, melts. v.intr.

1. To be changed from a solid to a liquid state especially by the application of heat.
2. To dissolve: Sugar melts in water.
3. To disappear or vanish gradually as if by dissolving: The crowd melted away after the rally.
4. To pass or merge imperceptibly into something else: Sea melted into sky along the horizon.
5. To become softened in feeling: Our hearts melted at the child's tears.
6. Obsolete. To be overcome or crushed, as by grief, dismay, or fear.

v.tr.

1. To change (a solid) to a liquid state especially by the application of heat.
2. To dissolve: The tide melted our sand castle away.
3. To cause to disappear gradually; disperse.
4. To cause (units) to blend: “Here individuals of all races are melted into a new race of men” (Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur).
5. To soften (someone's feelings); make gentle or tender.

n.

1. A melted solid; a fused mass.
2. The state of being melted.
3. 1. The act or operation of melting.
   2. The quantity melted at a single operation or in one period.
4. A usually open sandwich topped with melted cheese: a tuna melt.

[Middle English melten, from Old English meltan.]

meltability melt'a·bil'i·ty n.
meltable melt'a·ble adj.
melter melt'er n.
meltingly melt'ing·ly adv.
melty melt'y adj.