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A.Word.A.Day--adrenalize

adrenalize (a-DREEN-uh-lyz) verb

To excite and stir to action.

[From adrenaline, a hormone produced by adrenal glands (above the kidneys), secreted when a person is excited. From Latin renes, kidney.]

"The money managers are playing defense, but I am skeptical that that game can carry the Dow to 6,000, or even hold it aloft until such time as high-tech mania could once again adrenalize equity averages." Rick Ackerman, Behind the Bull Rush, The San Francisco Examiner, Nov 21, 1995.

This week's theme: words for body parts that are used metaphorically.

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