stonewall

****************************************************************
Why settle for one word of the day? Browse through them
all by subscribing to Merriam-Webster Unabridged.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged_sub.pl?refr=U_wod
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for May 20 is:

stonewall   \STOHN-wawl\   verb  
     intransitive verb
     1 chiefly British : to engage in obstructive parliamentary debate or 
delaying tactics 
    *2 : to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive
     transitive verb : to refuse to comply or cooperate with

Example sentence: 
     The legendary actress granted the reporter a rare interview, but she 
stonewalled when he asked about her reputed affair with the senator.

Did you know?
     The earliest English "stonewalls" were literal; they were walls made from 
stone. Because a stone wall can be difficult to surmount, English speakers 
began using "stonewall" figuratively for things or people who were either 
persistent and enduring or who presented an obstacle as formidable as a stone 
wall. (Those figurative senses earned American Confederate Civil War General 
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson his nickname.) Then, in the late 1800s, cricket 
players began using "stonewall" as a verb in reference to a batter's defensive 
blocking of balls. Around the same time, "stonewall" found its way into 
political slang as a synonym of "filibuster."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





You Are Subscribed As: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to subscribe to the html
version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio
pronunciations, please visit:

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2006 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102

*mf mwt 052006 GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx mf*

---
You are currently subscribed to mw-text as: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
leave-mw-text-979910Y@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx