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Apr 26, 2017
This week’s theme
Toponyms

This week’s words
sybaritic
dalmatic
sardine
frieze
pierian

sardines
A turtle swims below a school of sardines in Moalboal, Philippines

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

sardine

PRONUNCIATION:
(sahr-DEEN)

MEANING:
verb tr.: To pack tightly.

ETYMOLOGY:
The verb form developed from the tight packing of the sardine in cans. From French sardine, from Latin sardina, from Greek Sardo (Sardinia). Earliest documented use: 1895.

USAGE:
“Families of a dozen or more sardined themselves into buzzing, bumblebee-colored auto rickshaws designed for two passengers.”
Robert Kunzig; Seven Billion; National Geographic (Washington, DC); Jan 2011.

See more usage examples of sardine in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Oh, the comfort -- the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person -- having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. -Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, poet and novelist (26 Apr 1826-1887)

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