Cleat (noun)
Kl-eet
A T-shaped piece of metal or wood on a boat or ship, to which ropes are attached.
Each of a number of projections on the sole of a shoe, designed to prevent the wearer losing their footing.
Middle English (in the sense ‘wedge’): of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch kloot ‘ball, sphere’ and German Kloss ‘clod, dumpling’, also to clot and clout.
Example sentences
“The cleats meant the soles didn’t slip on the cyclists pedals.”
“Just tie it off to the cleats and the boat will be secure.”
Impediment (noun) im-ped-im-ent An obstruction, hindrance or obstacle. / any physical impairment or condition that impedes normal, fluent, or easy speech; a speech disorder. First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English,…
Gamp (noun) gamp (British) (informal) Umbrella. 1860–65; after the umbrella of Mrs. Sarah Gamp in Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit (more…)
Marabout (noun) ma-ra-boot (Islam) a hermit or holy man, especially in N Africa, often wielding political power and credited with supernatural powers./ the tomb or shrine of such a man.…
Farrago (noun) far-ah-go A jumbled mixture of things. 1625–35; Latin: literally, mixed crop of feed grains, equivalent to farr- (stem of far ) emmer + -āgō suffix noting kind or…
Firkin (noun) fer-kin a small wooden vessel or tub for butter, lard, etc. First recorded around 1400–50 and comes from the late Middle English word ferdkyn or firdekyn. (more…)
Collocation (noun) coll-ok-ay-shun the arrangement, especially of words in a sentence. 1595–1605; Latin collocātiōn- (stem of collocātiō ), equivalent to collocāt (more…)
Infelicitous (adj) in-fel-is-it-us inapt, inappropriate, or awkward; malapropos / not felicitous, happy, or fortunate; unhappy. First recorded in 1825–35 (more…)
Absquatulate (verb) ab-skwat-yu-layt to flee; abscond. First recorded in 1820–30. Formed from ab-, “away from,” and squat, “to sit in a low or crouching position.” (more…)