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sweeting

[ swee-ting ]

noun

a sweet variety of apple.

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More about sweeting

Sweeting is an obvious noun formed from the adjective sweet and the noun suffix -ing “one belonging to, descended from.” The sense “sweetheart,” not used nowadays, dates from about 1300; the sense “a variety of sweet apple” dates from the 16th century.

how is sweeting used?

… I do give her the frut of two appel trees one a sweeting ye nothermost of ye sweetings in ye Lower yard and ye westermost tree by ye highway.

, "A Trip to Old Harwich," The Owl, September 1903

They be not righteous actions that make a righteous man; nor be they evil actions that make a wicked man: for a tree must be a sweeting tree before it yield sweetings; and a crab tree before it bring forth crabs.

John Bunyan, A Discourse Upon the Pharisee and the Publican, 1685
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Word of the day

caboshed

[ kuh-bosht ]

adjective

Heraldry. (of an animal, as a deer) shown facing forward without a neck: a stag's head caboshed.

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More about caboshed

Caboshed, also spelled caboched and cabossed is a technical term in heraldry referring to a beast decapitated behind its horns. The -ed shows that the variant spellings are all past participles of the very rare and obsolete verb cabochen, cabachen “to behead (a deer or other beast) right behind its horns.” The English verb comes from the French verb cabocher (past participle caboché), a derivative of caboche (Old French caboce), a pejorative northern French dialect (Norman, Picard) word meaning “head” (literally “cabbage”). Caboche may be a development of Latin caput “head.” Caboshed entered English in the 16th century.

how is caboshed used?

… an heraldic shield featuring a lion’s head caboshed, with medusa hair, a single bulging eye, a beard, and tusks …

John Clute, Appleseed, 2001

A fanciful menagerie flourished on the banners: the caboshed boar of Janos of Hungary, the naiant dolphin of a Sicilian Norman, the salient-countersalient white stags of Conrad’s men, and everywhere the Templars’ Pegasus.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Crusader's Torch, 1988
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Word of the day

locavore

[ loh-kuh-vawr, -vohr ]

noun

a person who makes an effort to eat food that is grown, raised, or produced locally, usually within 100 miles of home.

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More about locavore

Locavore was coined in 2005 by Jessica Prentice (born 1968), an American chef and author, and a co-founder of Three Stone Hearth, a community-supported kitchen in Berkeley, California. Locavore is a compound of English local, from Latin locālis “pertaining to a place” (from locus “place”) and Latin vorāre “to swallow ravenously,” which also appears in devour “to swallow down, gulp down,” carnivore “meat eater,” and herbivore “grass eater.”

how is locavore used?

The pomegranates, Boston lettuce, and tomatoes came from out of state–it was hard to be a complete locavore in New England during the winter.

Steven Raichlen, Island Apart, 2012

The locavore movement aims to capture that flavor difference and promote sustainable, community-based agriculture by favoring “low-mileage” foods over ones that have traveled long distances to arrive at your plate.

Christie Aschwanden, "The Locavore," Runner's World, October 2008
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