English Language

Bustard (noun) bus-tah-d A large, heavily built, swift-running bird, found in open country in the…

Ackers (noun) ak-ers (informal) Money. 1930s (originally used by British troops in Egypt as a…

Gavotte (noun) ga-vot A medium-paced French dance, popular in the 18th century. French, from Provençal…

Embouchure (noun) ohm-bo-shur The way in which a player applies their mouth to the mouthpiece…

Sward (noun) sw-ord An expanse of short grass. Old English sweard ‘skin’. The sense ‘upper…

Salvo (noun) sal-vo A simultaneous discharge of artillery or other guns in a battle. A…

Bugaboo (noun) bu-ga-boo An object of fear or alarm; a bogey. Mid 18th century probably…

Holus-Bolus (adverb) how-lus-bow-lus All at once. Mid 19th century (originally dialect): perhaps pseudo-Latin for ‘whole…

Palisade (noun) pal-i-sayd A fence of wooden stakes or iron railings fixed in the ground,…