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Dec 15, 2006

This week's theme
Words for body parts used figuratively

This week's words
jugulate
forehanded
white-knuckle
leadfoot
skinflint

This week's comments
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Next week's theme
Reduplicatives

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skinflint

skinflint (SKIN-flint) noun

Someone who is stingy; a miser.

[Flint stones were used in olden times to start a fire. The term skinflint derives from the idea that a miserly person would go to the extreme and "skin a flint" or use a flint till it's as thin as skin.]

"But yesterday, Martha (Stewart) was revealed to have balked at invading her own wallet for even $10 worth of coffee and snacks. Just how much of a skinflint is Martha?"
Andrea Peyser; Skinflint Diva: Pennywise But Billions-Foolish; New York Post; Feb 20, 2004.

See more usage examples of skinflint in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

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