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Tuesday, January 14, 2025 | View Archive ?
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Word of the Day

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saltation

Definition: (noun) A light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards.
Synonyms:leaping, bounce, bound, spring
Usage:The kangaroo's effortless saltation was balletic and graceful. Discuss. Play

Daily Grammar Lesson

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Gerunds as Objects of Prepositions

Gerunds are used as the objects of prepositions to describe an action that modifies another action, thus creating adverbial prepositional phrases. These can occur at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence. What is the adverbial prepositional phrase in the following sentence? "After sneezing, I always get the hiccups." More... Discuss

Article of the Day

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Cortisol

Often referred to as the "stress hormone" because of its involvement in the body's stress response, cortisol is the principal steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex. It increases blood pressure and blood sugar levels and can act as an immunosuppressant. Hydrocortisone, or synthetic cortisol, is used to treat a number of conditions, including inflammation, allergies, collagen diseases, and adrenocortical insufficiency. In humans, cortisol levels peak at what time of day? More... Discuss

This Day in History

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Felice Orsini Attempts to Assassinate French Emperor Napoleon III (1858)

Orsini was an Italian revolutionary in the movement for Italian unification. In 1858, he made an attempt on the life of Napoleon III, whom he held responsible for the failure of the Italian revolutions of 1848 to 1849. Although ably defended by French statesman Jules Favre, Orsini was executed. His act, designed to arouse world interest in the Italian cause, paradoxically influenced Napoleon's own decision to intervene in favor of Italian unification. How did Orsini try to kill Napoleon? More... Discuss

Today's Birthday

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John Dos Passos (1896)

Dos Passos was an American writer whose World War I service as an ambulance driver and later work as a journalist led him to see the US as "two nations"—one for the rich and one for the poor. An artist to boot, he created many of the illustrations and covers for his books. His reputation as a social historian, radical critic of American life, and major novelist of the postwar "Lost Generation" rests primarily on his powerful U.S.A. trilogy, which includes what three novels? More... Discuss

Quotation of the Day

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I have never felt lonesome, or in the least oppressed by a sense of solitude, but once, and that was a few weeks after I came to the woods, when, for an hour, I doubted if the near neighborhood of man was not essential to a serene and healthy life.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Discuss

Mismatch
Select word:
forte
gracelessly
gracefully
rarely
often
alas
luckily
piano
permanently
temporarily

Match each word in the left column with its antonym (opposite) on the right. When finished, click Answer to see the results. Good luck!

 

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Hangman

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Grammar Quiz

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Which of the following suffixes is used to create the superlative form for short adjectives?

Spelling Bee
Difficulty level:
n. One that vaporizes, especially a device used to vaporize medicine for inhalation
Spell the word:

Match Up

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Select word:
brouhaha
fireball
bolide
stableboy
hostler
talebearer
blabbermouth
hubbub
analgesic
anodyne

Match each word in the left column with its synonym on the right. When finished, click Answer to see the results. Good luck!

 

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Today's Holiday

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Ratification Day

Though most people associate the end of the American Revolution with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, the war was not officially ended until the Treaty of Paris was ratified on January 14, 1784. The Old Senate Chamber in the Maryland State House at Annapolis has been preserved exactly as it was when the ratification took place. On Ratification Day, the ceremony that takes place inside varies from year to year, but it often revolves around a particular aspect of the original event. More... Discuss

Horoscope

Idiom of the Day

lose (one's) faith (in something or someone)

— To stop believing (in someone or something); to become disillusioned, embittered, or doubtful (about something or someone). (When said simply as "lose faith," it is often in reference to losing religious faith in God.) More... Discuss