Words II—Answers

Here are the answers to my earlier post.

The theme for today’s questions repeats yesterday’s: five words, each beginning with a different letter — W, O, R, D, and S. Each word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary and is presented below with three possible meanings. Simply choose the correct one for each.

Widdershins

A. Small shears; secateurs 

B. A direction contrary to the sun’s course; anticlockwise

C. Woollen leggings; gaiters

Answer: B. A direction contrary to the sun’s course; anticlockwise

adverb mainly Scottish English in a direction contrary to the sun’s course, considered as unlucky; anticlockwise: she danced widdershins around him.


– ORIGIN early 16th century: from Middle Low German weddersins, from Middle High German widersinnes, from wider ‘against’ + sin ‘direction’; the second element was associated with Scots sin ‘sun’. 


— Oxford English Dictionary

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Omasum

A. An estate held in absolute ownership, without acknowledgement to a superior.
B. A hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization.
C. The muscular third stomach of a ruminant animal

Answer: C. The muscular third stomach of a ruminant animal

noun (plural omasa /əʊˈmeɪsə/) Zoology the muscular third stomach of a ruminant animal, between the reticulum and the abomasum. Also called psalterium


– ORIGIN mid 16th century: from Latin, literally ‘tripe’, probably from Gaulish.


— Oxford English Dictionary

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Rhinal

A. In Palaeontology relating to unicorns
B. The scientific study of water loss from riverine systems
C. Anatomy relating to the nose or the olfactory part of the brain

Answer: C. Anatomy relating to the nose or the olfactory part of the brain

adjective Anatomy relating to the nose or the olfactory part of the brain.


– ORIGIN mid 19th century: from Greek rhis, rhin- ‘nose’ + -al.


— Oxford English Dictionary

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Dubbo

A. One who is an identical twin
B. An adolescent male kangaroo or wallaby
C. An unsophisticated or unintelligent person; a country bumpkin

Answer: C. An unsophisticated or unintelligent person; a country bumpkin

noun (plural dubbos) Australian English informal, derogatory an unsophisticated or unintelligent person, especially someone from the countryside; a bumpkin: why was she working with such a bunch of dubbos?


– ORIGIN 1980s: from the name of a famous farming town in New South Wales.


— Oxford English Dictionary

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Shadoof

A. A pole and bucket system to collect well water
B. A shadow-like spectre

C. A Jewish professional matchmaker or marriage broker

Answer: A. A pole and bucket system to collect well water

noun a pole with a bucket and counterpoise used especially in Egypt for raising water.


– ORIGIN mid 19th century: from Egyptian Arabic šādūf.

— Oxford English Dictionary