acetabulum | (noun) the cup-shaped hollow in the hipbone into which the head of the femur fits to form a ball-and-socket joint | Synonyms: cotyloid cavity |
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alum | (noun) a double sulphate of aluminum and potassium that is used as an astringent (among other things) | - |
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(noun) a white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum: the potassium double sulfate of aluminum | Synonyms: potash alum, potassium alum |
(noun) a white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum: the ammonium double sulfate of aluminum | Synonyms: ammonia alum, ammonium alum |
(noun) a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university) | Synonyms: grad, graduate |
amylum | (noun) a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice; an important foodstuff and used otherwise especially in adhesives and as fillers and stiffeners for paper and textiles | Synonyms: starch |
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animalculum | (noun) microscopic organism such as an amoeba or paramecium | Synonyms: animalcule |
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antebellum | (adjective) belonging to a period before a war especially the American Civil War | - |
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asylum | (noun) a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person | Synonyms: insane asylum, institution, mental home, mental hospital, mental institution, psychiatric hospital |
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(noun) a shelter from danger or hardship | Synonyms: refuge, sanctuary |
capitulum | (noun) a dense cluster of flowers or foliage | Synonyms: head |
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(noun) fruiting spike of a cereal plant especially corn | Synonyms: ear, spike |
(noun) an arrangement of leafy branches forming the top or head of a tree | - |
cerebellum | (noun) a major division of the vertebrate brain; situated above the medulla oblongata and beneath the cerebrum in humans | - |
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cingulum | (noun) (anatomy) an encircling structure (as the ridge around the base of a tooth) | - |
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coagulum | (noun) a lump of material formed from the content of a liquid | Synonyms: clot |
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curriculum | (noun) an integrated course of academic studies | Synonyms: course of study, program, programme, syllabus |
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diverticulum | (noun) a herniation through the muscular wall of a tubular organ (especially the colon) | - |
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doliolum | (noun) free-swimming oceanic tunicate with a barrel-shaped transparent body | - |
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epiphyllum | (noun) any cactus of the genus Epiphyllum having flattened jointed irregularly branching stems and showy tubular flowers | Synonyms: orchid cactus |
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filum | (noun) a threadlike structure (as a chainlike series of cells) | Synonyms: filament |
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flagellum | (noun) a lash-like appendage used for locomotion (e.g., in sperm cells and some bacteria and protozoa) | - |
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(noun) a whip used to inflict punishment | Synonyms: scourge |
glum | (adjective) moody and melancholic | - |
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(adjective) showing a brooding ill humor | Synonyms: dark, dour, glowering, moody, morose, saturnine, sour, sullen |
hilum | (noun) (anatomy) a depression or fissure where vessels or nerves or ducts enter a bodily organ | Synonyms: hilus |
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(noun) the scar on certain seeds marking its point of attachment to the funicle | - |
hoodlum | (noun) an aggressive and violent young criminal | Synonyms: goon, hood, punk, strong-armer, thug, tough, toughie |
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hordeolum | (noun) an infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid | Synonyms: eye infection, sty, stye |
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infundibulum | (noun) any of various funnel-shaped parts of the body (but especially the hypophyseal stalk) | - |
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inoculum | (noun) a substance (a virus or toxin or immune serum) that is introduced into the body to produce or increase immunity to a particular disease | Synonyms: inoculant |
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operculum | (noun) a hard flap serving as a cover for (a) the gill slits in fishes or (b) the opening of the shell in certain gastropods when the body is retracted | - |
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ossiculum | (noun) a small bone; especially one in the middle ear | Synonyms: bonelet, ossicle |
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pablum | (noun) worthless or oversimplified ideas | Synonyms: pap |
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pabulum | (noun) insipid intellectual nourishment | - |
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(noun) any substance that can be used as food | Synonyms: comestible, eatable, edible, victual, victuals |
paleocerebellum | (noun) the anterior lobe of the cerebellum which was one of the earliest parts of the hindbrain to develop in mammals | - |
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paspalum | (noun) tall tufted perennial tropical American grass naturalized as pasture and forage grass in southern United States | Synonyms: dallis grass, dallisgrass, Paspalum dilatatum |
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pendulum | (noun) an apparatus consisting of an object mounted so that it swings freely under the influence of gravity | - |
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peplum | (noun) a flared ruffle attached to the waistline of a dress or jacket or blouse | - |
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(noun) a garment worn by women in ancient Greece; cloth caught at the shoulders and draped in folds to the waist | Synonyms: peplos, peplus |
phylum | (noun) (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes | - |
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(noun) (linguistics) a large group of languages that are historically related | - |
plum | (noun) a highly desirable position or assignment | - |
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(noun) any of numerous varieties of small to medium-sized round or oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single pit | - |
(noun) any of several trees producing edible oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single hard stone | Synonyms: plum tree |
(adverb) exactly | Synonyms: plumb |
(adverb) completely; used as intensifiers | Synonyms: clean, plumb |
reticulum | (noun) the second compartment of the stomach of a ruminant | Synonyms: second stomach |
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(noun) any fine network (especially one in the body composed of cells or blood vessels) | - |
siglum | (noun) a sign, abbreviation, letter, or character standing for words in ancient manuscripts or on coins or medals. | - |
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slum | (noun) a district of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions | Synonyms: slum area |
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(verb) spend time at a lower socio-economic level than one's own, motivated by curiosity or desire for adventure; usage considered condescending and insensitive | - |
spathiphyllum | (noun) any of various plants of the genus Spathiphyllum having a white or green spathe and a spike of fragrant flowers and often cultivated as an ornamental | Synonyms: peace lily, spathe flower |
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speculum | (noun) a medical instrument for dilating a bodily passage or cavity in order to examine the interior | - |
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(noun) a mirror (especially one made of polished metal) for use in an optical instrument | - |
spiculum | (noun) small pointed structure serving as a skeletal element in various marine and freshwater invertebrates e.g. sponges and corals | Synonyms: spicule |
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spirillum | (noun) any flagellated aerobic bacteria having a spirally twisted rodlike form | Synonyms: spirilla |
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(noun) spirally twisted elongate rodlike bacteria usually living in stagnant water | - |
subphylum | (noun) (biology) a taxonomic group ranking between a phylum and a class | - |
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sugarplum | (noun) any of various small sugary candies | - |
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superphylum | (noun) (biology) a taxonomic group ranking between a phylum and below a class or subclass | - |
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tantalum | (noun) a hard grey lustrous metallic element that is highly resistant to corrosion; occurs in niobite and fergusonite and tantalite | Synonyms: atomic number 73, Ta |
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vellum | (noun) fine parchment prepared from the skin of a young animal e.g. a calf or lamb | - |
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(noun) a heavy creamy-colored paper resembling parchment | - |
velum | (noun) a muscular flap that closes off the nasopharynx during swallowing or speaking | Synonyms: soft palate |
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(noun) a membranous covering attached to the immature fruiting body of certain mushrooms | Synonyms: veil |
whatchamacallum | (noun) something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known | Synonyms: dojigger, doodad, doohickey, gimmick, gismo, gizmo, gubbins, thingamabob, thingamajig, thingmabob, thingmajig, thingumabob, thingumajig, thingummy, whatchamacallit, whatsis, widget |
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