Wiktionary:Word of the day/2023/August 2

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Word of the day
for August 2
roly-poly n
  1. (countable)
    1. A toy that rights itself when pushed over.
    2. (informal) A short, plump person (especially a child).
    3. (gymnastics) A forward roll or sideways roll.
    4. (Australia) Synonym of tumbleweed (any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots once dry, forming a light, rolling mass which is driven by the wind from place to place); specifically, the prickly Russian thistle (Kali tragus or Salsola tragus).
    5. (British, also attributively) A baked or steamed pudding made from suet pastry which is spread with fruit or jam (or occasionally other fillings) and then rolled up.
    6. (Canada, US) In full roly-poly bug: a small terrestrial invertebrate which tends to roll into a ball when disturbed, such as a woodlouse (suborder Oniscidea, especially a pill bug (family Armadillidiidae) or a sowbug (family Porcellionidae)) or a pill millipede (superorder Oniscomorpha).
    7. (obsolete) A mischievous or worthless person; a scoundrel, a rascal.
  2. (uncountable, historical) An activity or game involving rolling.
    1. (games) A game involving people (usually children) rolling down a slope.
    2. (games) A game in which balls are rolled along the floor to knock down pins, or bowled into holes, or thrown into hats placed on the ground.
    3. (gaming) Synonym of roulette (a game of chance in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered red and black spaces, the one on which it stops indicating the result of a variety of wagers permitted by the game) [...]

Twins Days in Twinsburg, Ohio, USA, said to be the world’s largest annual gathering of biological twins and other multiple births, is held this year from August 4 to 6, 2023.

← yesterday | About Word of the DayNominate a wordLeave feedback | tomorrow →