This week's theme
Words coined in science fiction

This week's words
grok
waldo
tardis
triffid
frankenstein

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(WAL-doh)

MEANING:

noun: A device for manipulating objects by remote control, for example, a remotely-operated arm.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Waldo F. Jones, an inventor in a science-fiction story by Robert A. Heinlein. Earliest documented use: 1942.

NOTES:

Modern applications of waldo as a remote manipulator are in surgery, space, and in working in hazardous conditions, such as those involving radiation.

USAGE:

"I stuck my hand back into the waldo ... The remote arms peeled back the thin metal of the gondola."
Ben Bova; Venus; Tor; 2000.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: