noun (dated)
an ambush: our sensibilities are being battered with reports of killings and ambuscades.
verb [with object] archaic
ambush (someone)
[The Iliad of Homer – Trans. Richmond Lattimore]
Lexicon
noun
- the remembering of things from a supposed previous existence (often used with reference to Platonic philosophy).
- MEDICINE a patient’s account of a medical history
- CHRISTIAN CHURCH the part of the Eucharist in which the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ are recalled
[Sphinx — Anne Garétta]
adj.
(noun: anfractuosity)
- full of windings and intricate turnings
[Nicholson Baker — The Mezzanine]
an·iso·car·pic | \ ¦aˌnīsə¦kärpik, a¦n- \
variants: or anisocarpous \ -pəs \
of flowers
: having fewer members in the whorl of carpels than in any of the other floral whorls— compare ISOCARPIC
an·o·dyne | \ ˈa-nə-ˌdīn \
1: serving to alleviate painthe anodyne properties of certain drugs
2: not likely to offend or arouse tensions : INNOCUOUS … his speech contained a single anodyne reference to the man who preceded him.— John F. Burns
noun
- (in classical architecture) a main beam resting across the tops of columns, specifically the lower third entablature
- the molded frame around a doorway or window, or a molding around the exterior of an arch
[“The Island” — Lord Byron]
Adj.
- Complete, utter
[Moby-Dick; or, The Whale — Herman Melville]
adj.
- having no specific semantic content
- without the smallest unit of meaning
Also: Asemic writing
[A Handbook of Disappointed Fate — Anne Boyer]
n.
- the practice of severe self-discipline, typically for religious reasons
[The Reading Life — C. S. Lewis]
n.
(Plural: asperities)
- Roughness or harshness, as of surface, sound, or climate.
- Severity; rigor.
- A slight projection from a surface; a point or bump.
- Harshness of manner; ill temper or irritability.
[Nicholson Baker — The Mezzanine]