Tremellose

Tremellose means shaking like a jelly. Simple when you think about it. Thanks for your invented meanings. They were great. And Magdalene is our lucky winner for the last day of the year. Great work, Magdalene. Keep it up.

Postliminy

Postliminy is a Roman law which allowed a banished person or a captive to regain their privileges once they returned to their own home land. Quite civilised really. Your invented meanings for postliminy were more whimsical and I enjoyed reading them very much. Thanks for being part of this blog. Mandy was today's poll winner. Great work, Mandy.

Corundum

Corundum is a crystallized mineral. Something like sapphires and rubies, apparently, but with a less romantic name. Congratulations to realityjunkie and any other word imps who've added new babies to their families this year. Very exciting and thanks for the news! Keep up the great work. We need more word imps! And congratulations as well to Bea N Random for the great win on the poll today.

Insufflation

Insufflation is simply breathing on or into something. In a slightly more bizarre sense, it can also refer to breathing on someone as part of an exorcism. Great invented meanings, by the way. Today's winner on the poll was suggested by Thinks! Great work, again.

Benthos

Benthos is the collective term for the life forms which thrive on the ocean bottom. But do they know it's Christmas? Thanks for your very funny invented meanings for benthos. I was amused. The pollsters loved Magdalene's invented meaning. Great work, M.

Cordovan

Cordovan is leather from Cordova. Simple really. Your invented meanings were wonderful. Thanks for your contributions. I'm happy to add that Dancerella was well deserved winner today. Great work!

Tenesmus

Tenesmus isn't nice. It's the continual desire to rid the bladder or bowels of their contents, along with the associated painful straining. We could do without that this Christmas. Thanks for your myriad of fascinating entries - and especially to Thinks! who was the runaway winner on the poll. Great work!

Gelid

Gelid meanings icy cold. Now that does actually ring a vague bell. Perhaps I've read it before or heard it somewhere. It's not gelid here in summery New Zealand, although cooler this evening thank goodness. I hope those of you experiencing gelid conditions in the northern hemisphere have a happy time of it. Sonnjea B was the talented winner on today's poll. Great work, Sonnjea.

Quidnunc

I'm a quidnunc. It's a gossip. I try not to be, but I can't help myself. Now I know there's such a fabulous word for it, I may take it up professionally. "Oh, what do you do then?" Me? I'm a quidnunc, of course." Your meanings were wonderful as always. I had a good giggle reading through them after being too busy to come to the blog for a while. So thanks for being here, even when I wasn't! Elisenda was the clever winner on today's poll. Great work and beautiful name too!

Stylobate

A stylobate has nothing to do with style. Well, maybe, if you're an architect it might. Anyway, it's a long basement supporting a row or several rows of columns. I can picture a stylobate but I can't say I've ever heard the term before. Your invented meanings for stylobate were great. The winner with the most votes from his peers was The Encourager. Great work!

Embay

To embay something is to enclose it or shut it in. In particular, though, embay is used to describe the action of moving a ship into a bay. Your meanings were far more interesting, obviously. Stephen received the most votes for his wonderful meaning. Great work, as always, Stephen.

Manumission

Manumission is great. It's the act of setting slaves free. I never knew it was called manumission, but I am a fan of freeing slaves. Your meanings were wonderful and very enjoyable to read on what's been a down day for various reasons. Thanks for the humour. And well done to Silver_flight who reached the top of the poll today.

Rubricate

To rubricate something is to mark it with red. So I guess those teachers who love marking school books with copious red pen marks are rubricating. Who knew? Thanks for your answers. They were wonderful. And I'm pleased to report that Lorenzothellama was chosen as today's poll winner. Great work, Lorenzo.

Loment

A loment is a pod which, when it's mature, breaks into separate parts each containing one seed. Fascinating. I can't give you an example sorry. Perhaps the scientific word imps could enlighten us further. Thanks for your whimsical invented meanings for loment. The poll winners were The Dancer and Stephen. Well done, you two.

Guttler

A guttler is someone who eats like a glutton. Sadly, I have had some guttler moments in my time. The invented meanings were fantastic. I actually found it almost impossible to choose three. The only way I managed to do it was to take away the pressure and think, oh well, it's only a game. After all that, the winner by a nose (or was it a sniff of caffeine?) was Scallywagger. Great work!

Subtrahend

The subtrahend is the thing which is subtracted in a subtraction sum. Simple really. I remember learning maths. I even remember teaching it. But I don't remember coming across the subtrahend. However, memory isn't my strong point, so I figure it must be something I've filed away just a bit too carefully. Your invented meanings were exceptional and the runaway winner on the poll was b.e.mendez. Great work!

Emblement

Emblement describes the profits from sown land. Alternatively it can be used to describe the natural products of soil. Hope that makes things abundantly clear. Your meanings for emblement were great. Thanks for your efforts. And a big congratulations to Aviva who's the winner on today's poll.

Porrect

Porrect is interesting. In terms of an action, to porrect is to stretch out part of the body. Or, it can be to tender or submit a document, presumably from an outstretched hand. Fascinating and very educational. Your meanings of course, were hilarious. Merriam and Sandra Dodd were equally as good, according to voters. Well done, both of you.

Nidificate

As suggested, guessed or channelled by Aviva, to nidificate is to build a nest. Not very many invented meanings to choose from today, but it was a case of lacking in quantity and gaining in quality. I loved the meanings which were presented by a dedicated few and it's clear that most of the voters loved the work of Thinks! who topped the poll with 80 per cent of the votes! Great work, Thinks!