This week’s theme
Idioms & metaphors

This week’s words
beacon
security blanket
incandescent
nuclear option
lily-handed

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(si-KYOOR-i-tee blang-kit)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A small blanket held by a child for comfort and reassurance.
2. Something that provides a feeling of safety, comfort, or emotional stability.
3. Protective measures designed to prevent the unauthorized dissemination of sensitive information.

ETYMOLOGY:

From security, from Latin securus (free from care), from se- (without) + cura (care), and blanket, from French blanc (white), referring to undyed wool + -et (diminutive suffix). Earliest documented use: 1944. The term was popularized by Charles Schulz’s comic strip Peanuts, where the character Linus famously clings to his security blanket.

USAGE:

“Keeping up with a child’s security blanket can be frustrating at times, especially if it’s forgotten somewhere or they just won’t do a thing without it regardless of what kind of condition it is in.”
Jodie Lynn; How to Wean Child From Blankie; St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Aug 25, 2016.

“At this point, making a crack about crowd sizes being Mr. Trump’s sweaty security blanket is so hackneyed that it might get you booed off the stage at an amateur stand-up comedy night.”
Shannon Proudfoot; Harris Finds the Secret Skeleton Key to Undoing Trump; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Sep 12, 2024.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

ANOTHER THOUGHT FOR TODAY: