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Feb 10, 2025
This week’s themeVerbs This week’s words insufflate spanghew peregrinate quetch nidify 
Illustration: Anu Garg + AI Previous week’s theme Words made with combining forms 
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargI love words -- all words -- but I’m especially partial to verbs. They’re the engines of language, propelling us forward. Run, hike, and dance: these three really move me. But you don’t have to act on the verbs you love. Instead, they can draw the world around us, capturing what its inhabitants dream, build, or unravel. This week, we’ll share five verbs to kickstart your creativity and enrich your verb stock. What verbs strike a chord with you? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Don’t forget to include your location (city, state) so we know where the verbs are vibing! insufflate
PRONUNCIATION:
(IN-suh-flayt, in-SUHF-layt)
MEANING:
verb tr.: 1. To blow or breathe into. 2. To treat by blowing air, gas, vapor, or powder into a body cavity. 3. To bless by breathing or blowing on baptismal water or a person. ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin insufflare (to blow upon), from in- (into) + sufflare (to
inflate), from suf- (sub-) + flare (to blow). Earliest documented use: 1670.
NOTES:
An example of insufflation in medicine is to introduce carbon
dioxide into a body cavity to expand it to make it easier to perform
surgery. Medicines and vaccines can also be administered by insufflating
into a person’s nose, for example.
In Christianity, one might insufflate upon the baptismal water to make
it pure. If one can insufflate, why not exsufflate? Good news: one can! In medicine, exsufflation is used to clear airways. In Christianity, it’s used to remove evil spirits (see exorcise). USAGE:
“Stunning live performances of traditional Mexican dance insufflated life
and movement to the creations of American-born artist Nicolas V. Sanchez.” Farah Abdessamad; “Art on Paper” at Pier 36 Held for the First Time Since Mar 2020; The New York Observer; Sep 14, 2021. See more usage examples of insufflate in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
What for centuries raised man above the beast is not the cudgel but the
irresistible power of unarmed truth. -Boris Pasternak, poet, novelist,
Nobel laureate (10 Feb 1890-1960)
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