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A.Word.A.Day--acephalous

acephalous (ay-SEF-uh-luhs) adjective

1. Headless or lacking a clearly defined head.

2. Having no leader.

[From Medieval Latin acephalus, from Greek akephalos : a-, without + kephale, head.]

"This year the Petri dish has seethed with wriggly micro-organisms. Laa-Laa, Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Po, with their diapered bums and ancient gnomic faces, coo and gurgle as they pet Dolly the cloned sheep; the animated contents of a spice rack dance with a new breed of acephalous rodents. These lower life-forms make an alarming sight. Writhing on the glass, are the contents of our collective imagination." Conrad, Peter, Sacred Monsters Headless Rats, Idiot Pianists, Pampered Martyrs And Plaster Saints, The Observer, Dec 28, 1997.

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