Word of the Day
undulate
verb (used without object)
to move with a sinuous or wavelike motion; display a smooth rising-and-falling or side-to-side alternation of movement: The flag undulates in the breeze.
More about undulate
Something that undulates, as a flag or rhythm, moves side to side or rises and falls like a wave. Indeed, its origin is Latin unda “wave,” via undulātus “waved, wavy,” composed of –ula, a diminutive suffix, and –ātus, a past participle suffix. Unda also yields English abound, abundant, inundate, redound, redundant, and surround. Latin unda in turn comes from the Proto-Indo-European root wed– “water, wet,” ultimate source of the names of two substances that may cause some to undulate, as it were, on their feet: vodka (via Russian) and whiskey (Irish or Scots Gaelic). Best to stay hydrated, another derivative of wed-, via Greek hýdōr “water.” Undulate entered English in the 1600s.
how is undulate used?
At the end, the national anthem is played, and our flag undulates all day on its very tall mast and unfurls as it ascends majestically.
There is a strange, dull glow to the east, from the sea; it undulates softly, rotates, like a net that has captured nothing.
More about lulu
Lulu was originally a piece of American slang. Slang terms have notoriously difficult origins, and lulu, also spelled loulou and looly, has no reliable etymology. Lulu first entered English in the mid-1850s.
how is lulu used?
… Marty loved to point out any big or little step and say to her, “Watch out. It’s a lulu.”
I started to work at the knot, which was a lulu.
hangdog
adjective
browbeaten; defeated; intimidated; abject: He always went about with a hangdog look.
More about hangdog
Hangdog is a compound of hang and dog, originally an expression for a person deemed so low and despicable they were considered fit only to hang a bad dog or be hanged like one, as was once the custom; hence, by extension, “browbeaten, defeated, intimidated abject.” In the American South the adjectival form doghanged also occurs, like Southern peckerwood for woodpecker. Hangdog entered English in the second half of the 17th century.
how is hangdog used?
For more than a year now, the desolation Lyndon Johnson felt about his position had shown in his posture … and in his face, on which all the lines ran downward, his jowls sagging, so that reporters mocked in print his “hangdog” look.
After his opening remarks, Cohen, with his weary, hangdog look, affected a penitent air.