Word of the Day, November 28, 2022

[ ] November 28, 2022 Word of the Day [phytophagous]( [Discuss]( Definition: (adjective) Feeding on plants, including shrubs and trees. Synonyms: [plant-eating]( [phytophilous]( Usage: The dot moth is phytophagous, feeding on a wide variety of plants. Missing Idiom Contest The Free Dictionary has the largest collection of English idioms in the world. But we're always looking for more to add, and we want your help! Every so often we hear from users who have looked up an idiom on The Free Dictionary that it was not found in the database. Maybe it was some expression they heard at work, or some phrase they grew up hearing their grandmother say. If you know an idiom that isn't already defined on The Free Dictionary, [send it to us]( and you might win $150 USD. Complete English Spelling & Pronunciation Rules [Complete English Spelling Pronunciation Rules] The latest volume in our best-selling Grammar Book series! Learn the rules and patterns that tell you exactly how any word should be spelled and pronounced. ✔ Go beyond "I before E except after C" and get all the rules and exceptions, all in one place, all explained in plain English. ✔ Simple tips and tricks to avoid the most common mistakes. [Buy now](as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=farlex-el-20) Idiom of the Day [be home and hosed]( — To have successfully completed something, as a project or activity. Primarily heard in Australia. [More...]( Article of the Day La Brea Tar Pits [Discuss]( This famous fossil field is located in Los Angeles, California. Once used by local Native Americans as a source of tar for waterproofing, the tar pits are now a protected archeological site, as they contain a vast quantity of fossils from the last ice age. Indeed, more than one million prehistoric specimens have already been exhumed from the pits, among them mammoth, mastodon, and saber-toothed cat fossils, and are on display at the Page Museum there. What is a tar pit, and how does it form? [More...]( Daily Grammar Lesson Proclitics [Discuss]( When we form contractions, we almost always omit one or more letters from the second (or occasionally third) word. There are a few instances, though, in which the first word used in a contraction has one or more letters replaced by an apostrophe. What are some examples? [More...]( This Day in History First Serving Female British MP Elected (1919) [Discuss]( American-born Nancy Witcher Astor, or Viscountess Astor, was the second woman elected to the British Parliament's House of Commons and the first to actually serve. She concentrated on women's issues, temperance, and child welfare and was reelected many times, serving until 1945. Astor attracted a great deal of attention, much of it for her caustic and witty comments. She reportedly once said to Winston Churchill, "If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea!" What was his alleged response? [More...]( Today's Birthday Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908) [Discuss]( Claude Lévi-Strauss—not to be confused with jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss—was a French anthropologist and leading exponent of structuralism, an anthropological theory that holds that cultures, like languages, can be viewed as systems of signs and analyzed in terms of the structural relations among their elements. Borrowing heavily from contemporary linguistics, his theory was a major departure from earlier "functionalist" theories. Why was Lévi-Strauss investigated by the FBI? [More...]( Today's Holiday Timor-Leste Proclamation of Independence Day [Discuss]( After the [East Timorese]( declared independence from [Portugal]( on November 28, 1975, it took over two decades to fulfill the promise of freedom. Their plans were foiled by Indonesia, which carried out [its own occupation]( of its neighbor between 1975 and 1999. Observances for the November 28 anniversary honor the veterans of the independence movement. State leaders and other dignitaries usually participate in a parade, and the president of the country often bestows medals of honor to distinguish individuals who fought for the country's freedom. [More...]( Quote of the Day [Discuss]( No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. [Abraham Lincoln]( (1809-1865) Mobile apps from TheFreeDictionary.com [The Free Dictionary Classic Free App] The classic free version, downloaded more than 6 million times! - Multiple dictionaries, encyclopedias, and thesauruses in one place. - 14 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, Arabic, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. - Online translations of English into more than 40 languages, plus dozens of other translation options. 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