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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
act up

If a part of your body or a piece of equipment acts up, it doesn't work properly.

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Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
yips

(in phrase the yips) nervous tension that causes mistakes

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
perpetuity

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 14, 2025 is:

perpetuity • \per-puh-TOO-uh-tee\  • noun

Perpetuity refers to a state of continuing forever or for a very long time.

// The property will be passed on from generation to generation in perpetuity.

See the entry >
Examples:

“This isn’t new territory for the band—beginning with 2018’s Modern Meta Physic, Peel Dream Magazine have taken cues from bands like Stereolab and Pram, exploring the ways that rigid, droning repetition can make time feel rubbery. As they snap back into the present, Black sings, ‘Millions of light years, all of them ours.’ The past and future fold into themselves, braided together in perpetuity.” — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 4 Sept. 2024
Did you know?

Perpetuity is a “forever” word—not in the sense that it relates to a lifelong relationship (as in “forever home”), but because it concerns the concept of, well, forever. Not only can perpetuity refer to infinite time, aka eternity, but it also has specific legal and financial uses, as for certain arrangements in wills and for annuities that are payable forever, or at least for the foreseeable future. The word ultimately comes from the Latin adjective perpetuus, meaning “continual” or “uninterrupted.” Perpetuus is the ancestor of several additional “forever” words, including the verb perpetuate (“to cause to last indefinitely”) and the adjective perpetual (“continuing forever,” “occurring continually”). A lesser known descendent, perpetuana, is now mostly encountered in historical works, as it refers to a type of durable wool or worsted fabric made in England only from the late 16th through the 18th centuries. Alas, nothing is truly forever.

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Word of the Day
spongy

Definition: (adjective) Easily squashed; resembling a sponge in having soft porous texture and compressibility.
Synonyms: squishy, squashy.
Usage: I like nothing better than butter on a slice of freshly baked, spongy white bread.
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Idiom of the Day
shotgun house

(chiefly Southern United States slang) A one-story house in which each room is in a straight alignment with the others, connected by a continuous hallway running from the front to the back of the residence. Watch the video

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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
come into

to be given something after its owner dies

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😁1
Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
vac (1)

vacation, holiday

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
askance

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2025 is:

askance • \uh-SKANSS\  • adverb

Askance means "in a way that shows a lack of trust or approval" or "with a side-glance."

// I couldn't help but look askance at the dealer's assurances that the car had never been in an accident.

// Several people eyed them askance when they walked into the room.

See the entry >
Examples:

"In other cultures they might look askance at such a gnarly, leggy thing wedged into a loaf. But we know that a whole fried soft shell crab is one of the gifts of southeast Louisiana's robust seafood heritage." — Ian McNulty, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate Online, 1 May 2025
Did you know?

As with the similar word side-eye, writers over the years have used askance literally when someone is looking with a side-glance and figuratively when such a glance is conveying disapproval or distrust. Back in the days of Middle English you could use askaunce and a-skans and a-skaunces to mean “in such a way that,” “as if to say,” and “artificially, deceptively.” It’s likely that askance developed from these forms, with some help from asqwynt meaning “obliquely, askew.” Askance was first used in the 16th century with the meaning "sideways" or "with a sideways glance.”

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Wordsmith.org: Today's Word
corroboree

noun: 1. A meeting. 2. A large or noisy gathering or celebration. 3. A tumult.

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Word of the Day
self-restraint

Definition: (noun) Restraint of one's emotions, desires, or inclinations; self-control.
Synonyms: temperateness.
Usage: She little guessed the struggle within my breast, or the effort of self-restraint which held me back.
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Weekly Football Phrase: (to) Sweep Aside
Weekly Football Phrase: (to) Sweep Aside
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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
fill up (2)

to fill someone's stomach with food

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Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
eats

snacks, food

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
debunk

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 16, 2025 is:

debunk • \dee-BUNK\  • verb

To debunk something (such as a belief or theory) is to show that it is not true.

// The influencer remained enormously popular despite having the bulk of their health claims thoroughly debunked.

See the entry >
Examples:

“Conspiracy theorists (and those of us who argue with them have the scars to show for it) often maintain that the ones debunking the conspiracies are allied with the conspirators.” — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025
Did you know?

To debunk something is to take the bunk out of it—that bunk being nonsense. (Bunk is short for the synonymous bunkum, which has political origins.) Debunk has been in use since at least the 1920s, and it contrasts with synonyms like disprove and rebut by suggesting that something is not merely untrue but is also a sham—a trick meant to deceive. One can simply disprove a myth, but if it is debunked, the implication is that the myth was a grossly exaggerated or foolish claim.

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Word of the Day
button-down

Definition: (adjective) Unimaginatively conventional.
Synonyms: conservative.
Usage: Knowing that her unconventional appearance would hold her back in the button-down corporate culture she was about to enter, she reluctantly dyed her magenta hair back to its natural auburn.
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2025/09/20 17:05:40
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