Grillage

Grillage describes a wooden frame used as a building foundation on soft earth. That's according to my dictionary. However, your fabulous meanings were much more interesting and I've chosen the invented meaning from Scriptor Senex as my fave today. Here's his suggestion: "Grillage is that which happens when an amateur attempts to barbecue sausages. It derives from the words grill and pillage and the results are usually inedible."

Thanks for your contributions and sorry for my 2 month absence. I was still on earth, just busy moving house and dealing with family issues as well as having a bit of a break. Welcome back!

Crocidolite

Crocidolite is a yellow mineral produced from a fibrous silicate. My dictionary gives several other chemical/scientific details, which I can't be bothered repeating here. Basically, nothing to do with crocodiles!

Realityjunkie's meaning was the pick of a great bunch this week. Thanks for your fabulous contributions. Here's RJ's suggestion:

Crocidolite is a dermatologic term used to describe a patient with severely dry skin. There are many creams available for these poor eczema ridden people, however, the best treatment is to dampen the skin, rub vaseline or crisco on the skin and occlude the area.

Panopticon

A panopticon was a proposed circular prison with a central section for prison warders, and the cells all placed around that in a circle. Cool!

Our invented meanings were just as cool and Hey Jude's suggestion was perfect. I think I'll join. Thanks Jude.

Here it is again: Panopticon describes followers of of the 'Peter Pan' movement - members of this group have vowed never to grow up. They meet every year for a convention, which is known as the Panopticon.

Tenaculum

Ouch! A tenaculum is actually a sharp hook that a surgeon uses for picking up arteries. Sounds dangerous. Moving right along... I loved the meanings sent in for this word. You all made the decision as hard as it always is. Well done for your efforts. I finally chose the meaning suggested by Vicki Malicki. Love your work Vicki!
Here's her contribution:

Paul the Octopus from Germany who successfully predicted many game outcomes in the recent Soccer World Cup was a Tenaculum. He was revered throughout the Octopus world and his sad departure from this life has left a huge gap. However, a rumour is circulating that an up and coming young Octopus called Gary from Samoa is widely tipped to become the next Tenaculum.

Carking

Carking apparently means burdensome. I can't explain that, so I won't try. Swiftly on to the invented meanings then...

What a hard choice. There were some excellent meanings for carking, but Realityjunkie had such a warm and fuzzy entry that I just had to choose it.

Here it is: Carking is the sweet sound puppies make while they're sleeping. It's somewhere between a bark and a sigh. I love the sound of carking.

Elecampane

Elecampane is less beautiful than it sounds to me. It's a plant with bitter aromatic leaves.

I loved the word picture created by LivelyClamor. Here's the winning meaning: Elecampagne is a canopy with lots of little bells sewn onto it which ring at the slightest breeze.

Petuntse

Petuntse describes white earth that is used in China for making porcelain. Thanks for your varied meanings.

Angripengwin is today's winner, with this lovely meaning: Petite old woman who has a habit of wobbling about the place.

Boscage

Boscage refers to masses of trees or shrubs. I certainly have never heard of the term before. However, I can now say that I am fortunate to be surrounded by boscage where I live. I loved the invented meanings for boscage and would like to make silver_flight today's winner. In fact, I think this meaning should be the real one for boscage. Here it is:
I think this would be an old-fashioned starched shirt that forces one into a particular posture in an attempt to confer authority.

Gigmanity

Gigmanity refers to middle class - or so says my dictionary. I thought it would be something far more imaginative, like the meaning suggested by Hey Jude for example.
Well done, HJ. You're a winner!

Hey Jude's meaning follows: Gigmanity was the name of the giant in one of the several versions of Jack and the Beanstalk. It may surprise you to know that there have been several versions of this story by different authors. The name Gigmanity didn't stick because back in the 1800's is was a reasonably weird name and the publisher suggested it be changed to Giant.

Strigil

A strigil is pretty much like it sounds actually. It's an ancient bath time skin scraper. I guess skin scraping is required if bath time is not so regular. Your meanings were great fun and I've chosen LivelyClamor as today's champ. Great work LC.

Read on: Strigil is dental floss accidentally left hanging out of the wearer's mouth in their rush to get ready to go to work in the morning. It is a very embarrassing problem and why many people don't floss.

Shabrack

A shabrack is a cavalry saddlecloth, which is well short of interesting. The meanings invented by our word imps, on the other hand, were fascinating. I implore you to read them all, especially if you need a pick-me-up. It worked for me! Great to see the return of some of our previous word imps. Thanks for coming back.

Realityjunkie is our winner today. Here's her very well thought out and funny suggestion: Shabrack was the infamous Irish brother of Meshack and Abnego in the famous bible story of the fiery furnace. Although the men were on a strict diet of vegetables and water, old "Shabby" just couldn't resist hitting the wine skin now and then. Poor fella isn't mentioned in most versions of the bible. They replaced him with the more saintly Shadrach character we read about today.

Oleaginous

Oleaginous describes something that is oily, fatty or greasy. I chose the intriguing meaning offered by Greedy Biscuit Baron today. Well done, GBB and welcome back.
Here's the well thought out winning entry:

Oleaginous refers to something being completed with an extra flourish or added flare/gusto.

Its origins are believed to be a latin/spanish amalgamated word, derived from the spanish word "Olè!"
(which is the flashy ending in both Flamenco dancing and Bull Fighting.)
and "Aginous"
(which is a latin word for "derived from")


So there it is :
Olèaginous - the act of performing an excessively flashy ending.

Poudrette

Who will ever believe me when I tell you that the actual meaning of poudrette - which sounds so delicate and feminine - is actually manure made from charcoal and night soil (is that a euphemism for 'you know what'?).

Best change the subject quickly, I think.

I loved all your invented meanings. What a hard decision. However, I've gone with Yoda as I thought the image conjured up was the best. Perfect, Yoda! I can't believe that's not the real meaning.

Here's Yoda's contribution: Poudrette is the collective noun for outfits and paraphenalia designed to be worn by dogs small enough to fit in handbags.

Jemadar

A jemadar is a few different things, mostly Indian. The easiest one to describe here is an Indian police officer. Thanks for continuing to bless me with your invented meanings. I appreciate your interesting perspectives on life.

Tesori Trovati was today's winner with her delightful meaning: Jemadar - the sixth sense that I have when I find a beautiful gemstone at an incredible price!

Antigropelos

Antigropelos sounds a lot more like a medicine than it actually is. In fact, it's apparently an alternative name for waterproof leggings - supposedly the kind worn by fishermen or skiers?

The elusively named Carnreation is today's winner, with the brain stretching suggestion that antigropelos is someone who has a fear of being in a group with between 2 and 13 people in it. Excluding numbers over 12, under 6 and between 8 and 11.

Proparoxytone

Proparoxytone is a word which has an acute accent on the third to last syllable. If that means the emphasis is on the third to last syllable, then I get it. And proparoxytone is a proparoxytone. My winner today is Sprite, with a short and sweet meaning: "I believe it's a specialized tool used by teens to combat acne."

Great work Sprite - and thanks for playing.

Scopula

Scopula are the tufts of hair on bees' legs. Can't say I've ever observed a bee that closely, but next time I'll be keeping an eye out for the scopula - as well as the stingula! Dogmum pointed out that I might have been meaning scapula, which is a flash name for your shoulder blade. Thanks for the heads up, Dogmum. But no, I always intended to use scopula. Our winner today is Soph, who went all intergalactic on us with her meaning. Well done, Soph.

Here's her effort: 'Scopula' is the name of a lunar eclipse seen from Jupiter.

Frazil

Frazil is the name for ice crystals or snow floating in water. How picturesque! The word imps' invented meanings were interesting and I've chosen a winner after much consideration. Congrats and welcome back to Thinks! Here is his/her contribution:

A frazil or specifically a frazil nut is the fattest, roundest brazil nut you have carefully selected from the Christmas goodies dish and spent ten minutes breaking into with the nutcrackers which turns out to have the nasty tasting black crumbly disaster inside.

Ovolo

According to the people who write dictionaries, an ovolo is a convex moulding in the shape of a quarter circle or quarter ellipse which recedes downwards. I have no idea what that means. So let's stick with your invented meanings on that one. Much simpler. I've chosen the one suggested by Yoda today. Great work. Here 'tis:

Ovolo is a slang word used by burly men in shipyards, truck-loading docks, cargo docks, etc. When the vehicle being loaded is full and can't take any more, the men yell out "Ovolo!"

Koumiss

Koumiss is a liquor made from mare's milk. Very scary indeed. On a lighter note, Hey Jude has won today's competition with her inventive meaning. Great work, HJ!

Here it is: There is an ancient vegetable called the manglebeet. When this vegetable is processed and made into a spreadable paste, it is known as koumiss.

Gazogene

A gazogene is an apparatus for making aerated waters. Mmmm. Still leaves quite a lot to the imagination. Sort of like a Sodastream maybe? Your guess is as good as mine. Thanks for joining in with more invented meanings today. I have a merry little band of dedicated followers, which is very buoying. Your support is much appreciated. Today's chosen one is Thinks! Great work and great meaning. I'll have two thanks. Here is the winning entry:

Gazogene: makers of the instant gazebo! Get the barbie out pull the convenient rip-cord of the gazogene bag and your gazebo self-erects complete with bar and cocktail barman.

Terebinth

A terebinth is a turpentine tree. It still doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense to me but I trust the dictionary so we'll leave it at that. Your meanings for terebinth, on the other hand, were superb - particularly the meaning of Dogmum. Great work!

Here's her clever meaning: James Cameron was originally going to call his latest hit movie Terebinth. But one morning he awoke suddenly at 3:22am, sat up in bed, and said the word "Avatar". The rest is history. Well, modern history, since it's only fairly recent.

Hoggin

Hoggin is so much less interesting than you would think. It's a simple mixture of sand and gravel. Sounds a little bit like the stuff we use to create concrete. However, don't take my word for it and go mentioning hoggin to a concreting contractor any time soon. You could be misunderstood.

I thoroughly enjoyed your attempts to recreate Webster's dictionary definition for hoggin and have chosen Tesori Trovati as the winner. Her meaning took my fancy as my son is having a Harry Potter revival at the moment. So great work Erin! Keep it up. Here's her fabulous definition:

Hoggin: what gangs of wizards call flying around the castle at Hogwarts at midnight when they shouldn't be out of their houses.

Peccable

Peccable means liable to sin. Of course. It's not that hard really. Peccable is the opposite of impeccable. I'm not sure how I have reached my elevated status without being aware of such an obvious fact. However, it happened. Now I have no further excuses!

Thanks for your creative meanings. I enjoyed them and have chosen Siobhan as today's winner. Good work. Here's her meaning:

Peccable is a term used by bodybuilders to describe someone with the potential to excel in the bodybuilding field. When they see a young, puny specimen of masculinity,
but spy in him the potential to develop a strong upper body, they say 'that guy is really peccable' and try to sell him protein drinks.

Ratafia

Ratafia is a drink or biscuit flavoured with cherry, peach or apricot kernels, or with almond. I loved the invented meanings and have chosen, as today's winner, the meaning suggested by Ruth. Well done and welcome back Ruth. Here's her well structured meaning:

Ratafia is a mythical island somewhere off the coast of Madagasca, no one is sure where exactly. Legend has it that when a craft is lost without trace this is where it ends up. As well as those demised icons of popular culture subject to conspiracy theories.
On the beach at sunset you can sip coconut juice at a beach bar manned by the crew of the Marie Celeste, while Glen Miller and Buddy Holly make sweet music and Marilyn Munroe rides Shergar along the sand.

Jugulate

To jugulate is actually to arrest the course of a disease with a powerful remedy. I can't believe I've come this far in life and never heard of that word. Perhaps if I'd studied medicine I may have come across it. However, better late than never.

I chose LivelyClamor as today's winner. Great work! The winning meaning goes like this:

Jugulate: A gang initiation whereby all politicians are encouraged to prove themselves by creating as many attack ads ("go for the jugular") as possible with as little creativity as possible. The cumulative effect on the listener/viewer should be a feeling of strangulation. In addition, jugulate means a way for politicians to juggle conflicting promises without getting caught.

Alliaceous

Alliaceous refers to anything related to garlic, onions or leeks, particularly regarding the smell or taste. Clare was strikingly close to the real meaning, but today's winner is Ruby Rosamund. Well done, Ruby. Here's her invented definition:

Alliaceous - A term used to describe overhanging plants that are rooted in a private garden, but whose leaves/branches protrude onto public footpaths.

Mr. Jones had an ongoing dispute with the council over his alliaceous laburnum, and whose job it may be to trim it back.

Waddy

Thanks for your incredibly interesting and well thought out meanings. I'm impressed. While I've been away, the word imps have been honing their skills. A waddy is, in real life, a native Australian war club. My dictionary doesn't mention Aboriginal, but I'm assuming that's what it means by native Australian. However, judging by some tv news items we get here in NZ about Australian street brawls, it could be another word for a beer bottle. However, I digress. My pick of the fabulous invented meanings for waddy today is from Louisa. It was a very difficult decision as they all made me laugh. However, Louisa's made me laugh loudest and longest. Well done, you! Here's her winning effort:
Waddy is the collective noun for spitballs, lovingly produced in the mouths of teenage boys from the cheap paper found in their school jotters.

Example: "The fourth form launched a coordinated waddy of spitballs at Mr Samuels when he attempted to teach them about logarithms."

The term, along with the term "fourth form", is largely outdated as the teenagers would now use other means to assault the aforementioned Mr Samuels.

Example: "When Mr Samuels attempted to teach the Year 10s about logarithms, the class all used their iPhones to log onto Facebook and send a thousand virtual saliva ejections at his Wall, using the iExpectorate app."

Quondam

A quondam is very hard to explain, according to my dictionary. However, I shall do my best. It describes something that was once a certain way, but now isn't. I think a synonym for quondam is "former". That probably doesn't help, but the dictionary I have gives this example: "He is a quondam friend of mine."

My winner today for an invented meaning for quondam is Thinks! Here it is: From recipe books - whereby 1 x quondam of hot spice such as curry powder = the entire contents of the jar added accidentally while trying to measure 1 teaspoonful.

Well done all of you. A great lot of invented meanings. Much easier to understand than the real meaning, too!

Purfle

A purfle can be a fancy border. So, to purfle is to make something fancy. That's my version of what the dictionary says and it's close enough to the truth, so that's good enough for me. My daughter will be doing a bit of purfling before the school disco tonight, methinks. Well done to the inventors of interesting meanings for purfle. The poll winner was Realityjunkie.

Orotund

Orotund describes a particular way of speaking which could be described by some as pompous and pretentious. Others may simply say the speaker was particularly dignified in their oratory. Thanks a million for your fabulous invented meanings for orotund. Today's fabulous winner was Bonnie. Great work Bonnie. Hope to see you here again soon.

Nuncupate

If I have read my dictionary correctly, to nuncupate is to make a declaration of your last will and testament through the spoken word rather than the written word. Presumably that's like when Auntie Nellie tells little Rita that she'll leave her collection of salt and pepper shakers to her when she dies. I really enjoyed coming back from my holiday to find lots of great meanings on the blog for nuncupate. You've all worked very hard while I was scoring cricket games in the sun. Well done to all of you. And a special congrats to Realityjunkie for a winning meaning on the poll.