Some of the New Words in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Some of the New Words in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary


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ahi
n. (in Hawaii) a large tuna, especially as an item of food.
— origin from Hawaiian 'ahi.

arborist
n. a tree surgeon.

astrobiology
n. the branch of biology concerned with the discovery or study of life on other planets or in space.
— derivatives
astrobiological adj. astrobiologist n.

batchmate
n. Indian a classmate.

bioindicator
n. an organism used as an indicator of the quality of an ecosystem, especially with respect to pollution.

bioweapon
n. a harmful biological agent used as a weapon of war.

bit1
— phrases
in bits Brit. informal very upset or emotionally affected.

blogosphere
n. (the blogosphere) informal personal websites and weblogs collectively.

bloviate
v. US talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way.
— derivatives
bloviation n.
— origin C19: perh. from blow1 .

blue1
— phrases
blue on blue Military denoting or relating to an attack made by one's own side that accidentally harms one's own forces: blue-on-blue incidents. [from the use of blue to indicate friendly forces in military exercises.]

bookcrossing
n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.

bore da
exclam. Welsh good morning!
— origin Welsh, from bore 'morning' + da 'good'.

bridge-and-tunnel
adj. US informal (of a person) living in the suburbs and perceived as unsophisticated.
— origin with ref. to the means used to commute into New York.

bris
n. the ceremony in which a Jewish baby boy is circumcised.
— origin Heb. berit, short for berit milah 'covenant of circumcision'.

budo
n. martial arts.
the code on which martial arts are all based.
— origin Japanese budo, from bu 'military' + do 'way'.

bumsters
pl. n. trousers that are cut very low on the hips.

carbo-load
v. informal (of a sports player or athlete) saturate the muscles with stored glycogen by exercising and dieting and then shortly before a competition eating a large amount of carbohydrates.

cavolo nero
n. a dark-leaved variety of kale used in Tuscan cookery.
— origin Ital., from cavolo 'cabbage' + nero 'black'.

central casting
n. N. Amer. the department of a film production company that hires actors, especially for bit parts as stock characters.

congestion charge
n. Brit. a charge made to drive into an area, typically a city centre, that suffers heavy traffic.

croeso
exclam. Welsh welcome!
— origin Welsh.

cumec
n. a cubic metre per second, as a unit of rate of flow of water.
— origin 1950s: from cubic metres per second.

cybercrime
n. criminal activities carried out by means of computers or the Internet.
— derivatives
cybercriminal n.

cyberwar
n. the use of computers to disrupt the activities of an enemy country, especially the deliberate attacking of communication systems.

designer baby
n. a baby whose genetic make-up has been selected in order to eradicate a particular defect, or to ensure that a particular gene is present.

desk jockey
n. N. Amer. informal, chiefly derogatory a person who works at a desk; an office worker.

dicky1 (also dickey) n. (pl. dickies or dickeys) 3. Indian the boot of a car.

dohyo
n. (pl. dohyos) the ring within which sumo wrestling takes place.
— origin Japanese, abbrev. of dohyoba 'wrestling arena'.

ecological footprint
n. the amount of land required to sustain a particular person or society.

elimination diet
n. a procedure used to identify foods which a person is intolerant of, in which all suspected foods are excluded from the diet and then reintroduced one at a time.

embed
v. (also imbed) (embeds, embedding, embedded) 2. attach (a journalist) to a military unit during a conflict. n. a journalist who is attached to a military unit during a conflict.

fan fiction (also informal fanfic) n. fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, film, etc.

first responder
n. N. Amer. a person whose job entails being the first on the scene of an emergency, such as a firefighter or police officer.

fitna (also fitnah) n. Islam unrest or rebellion, especially against a rightful ruler.
— origin Arab., 'rebellion, strife'.

flash mob
n. a public gathering of complete strangers, organized via the Internet or mobile phone, who perform a pointless act and then disperse again.
— derivatives
flash mobber n. flash mobbing n.

flip chip
n. Computing a chip on one side of which all the connections are in the form of contacts which can be made simultaneously by pressing the chip against the matching substrate and applying heat or pressure.

Flynn
n. (in phr. be in like Flynn) informal, chiefly N. Amer. & Austral. act quickly and impetuously; seize an opportunity.
— origin 1940s: prob. from the name of the actor Errol Flynn, known for his wild behaviour.

gangmaster
n. Brit. a person who organizes and oversees the work of casual manual labourers.

glatt (also glatt kosher) adj. Judaism (of food) completely kosher; prepared according to a strict interpretation of Jewish dietary law.
— origin Yiddish, from Ger. glatt 'smooth' + Heb. kaser 'proper'.

guestbook
n. Computing a facility on a website on which visitors to the site may record their comments.

gulet
n. a traditional Turkish wooden sailing boat, now often used for holiday cruises.
— origin Turk., via Ital. goletta from Fr. go茅lette.

hamachi
n. the young of the Japanese amberjack or yellowtail, which is fished and bred in Japan as a food fish.
— origin from Japanese.

handbag Brit. n. 2. (handbags) humorous a confrontation that does not lead to serious fighting, especially among soccer players. [from the idea of women fighting with their handbags.]

hapkido
n. a Korean martial art characterized by kicking and circular movements.
— origin Korean, lit. 'way of coordinated energy'.

hardscrabble
adj. N. Amer. involving hard work and struggle: a brutally hardscrabble life.

havarti
n. a mild, semi-soft Danish cheese with small irregular holes.
— origin named after the farm of the Danish cheesemaker Hanne Nielsen.

hazmat (also hazmats) n. [often as modifier] dangerous substances; hazardous material: hazmat shipments.

health tourism
n. the practice of travelling abroad in order to receive medical treatment.

helm1
v. 2. N. Amer. direct (a film).

herbert
n. Brit. informal an undistinguished or foolish man or youth: a bunch of spotty herberts.
— origin 1960s: a male forename.

hip1
— phrases
be joined at the hip informal (of two people) be inseparable.

hoodia
n. 1. a cactus-like succulent plant native to southern Africa. Genus Hoodia: several species, in particular H. gordonii. 2. a compound derived from hoodia which acts as an appetite suppressant.
— origin early 20th cent.: mod. L. (genus name), from Hood, the name of an English plant grower.

hoser
n. N. Amer. informal 1. a foolish person. 2. an uncultivated or unintelligent person.

hypoxia
n. Ecology oxygen deficiency in a biotic environment.
— origin 1940s: from hypo- + oxygen + -ia1 .

ident
n. a short sequence shown on television between programmes to identify the channel.

iechyd da
exclam. Welsh used to express good wishes before drinking.
— origin Welsh, lit. 'good health'.

industrial language
n. Brit. informal bad language; swearing.

infowar
n. another term for cyberwar .

jarhead
n. US informal a marine.

jihad (also jehad)
— derivatives
jihadist n.

junk DNA
n. Genetics DNA that does not code for a protein, usually occurs in repetitive sequences of nucleotides, and does not seem to serve any useful purpose.

kyudo
n. the Japanese martial art of longbow archery, incorporating set rhythmic movements and practised in a meditative state.
— origin Japanese, lit. 'way of the bow', from kyu 'bow' + do 'way, method'.

lit2
n. short for literature : chick lit.

low-hanging fruit
n. (pl. same) informal something easily achieved or overcome.

lunch pail N. Amer. n. a lunch box. adj. (lunch-pail) informal working-class; blue-collar.

Manchego
n. a Spanish cheese traditionally made with sheep's milk.
— origin Sp., from La Mancha, the name of the region of central Spain where the cheese originates.

manteau
n. 2. a long, loose coat or overshirt worn by Muslim women.
— origin C17: from Fr.; cf. mantua .

marketspace
n. 2. commerce carried out by electronic means, especially via the Internet.

mattify
v. (of a cosmetic) reduce the shine or oiliness of (the complexion).
— derivatives
mattifier n.

mawashi
n. a type of loincloth worn by a sumo wrestler.
— origin Japanese, from mawasu 'to put round'.

m-commerce (also m-business) n. commercial transactions conducted electronically by mobile phone.

mentalist1
n. Brit. informal an eccentric or mad person.

metrosexual
n. informal a heterosexual urban man who enjoys shopping, fashion, and similar interests traditionally associated with women or homosexual men.
— origin 1990s: blend of metropolitan and heterosexual .

microdermabrasion
n. a cosmetic treatment in which the face is sprayed with exfoliant crystals to remove dead epidermal cells.

middle youth
n. the time of life between early adulthood and middle age.

minhag
n. (pl. minhag or minhagim) Judaism a custom or practice, especially one which has taken on the force of law.
— origin Heb. minhag 'custom, usage, conduct', from nahag 'to drive or lead'.

mini-me
n. informal a person closely resembling a smaller or younger version of another.
— origin the name of a cloned character in the film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).

mystery shopper
n. a person employed to visit a shop or restaurant incognito in order to assess the quality of the goods or services.

nanobot
n. a very small self-propelled machine, especially one that has some degree of autonomy and can reproduce.

nimrod
n. 2. N. Amer. informal an inept person.
— origin C16: from Heb. Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah, known for his hunting skill (see Gen. 10:8-9).

niqab
n. a veil worn by some Muslim women, covering all of the face and having two holes for the eyes.
— origin Arab. niqab.

noni
n. 1. a tropical evergreen shrub native to southern and SE Asia and the Pacific islands. Morinda citrifolia. 2. the fruit of the noni, used medicinally to stimulate the immune system and as a detoxifying agent.
— origin Tahitian.

noogie
n. N. Amer. informal an instance of rubbing a person's head with one's knuckles, as a prank or to express affection.
— origin 1970s: perh. a dimin. of knuckle .

Oxford comma
n. another term for serial comma .
— origin a characteristic of the house style of Oxford University Press.

oxygen debt
n. a temporary oxygen shortage in the tissues arising from exercise.

pharma
n. 1. (often in phr. big pharma) pharmaceutical companies collectively as a sector of industry. 2. a pharmaceutical company.

phytochemical
n. any of various biologically active compounds found in plants. adj. relating to phytochemistry or phytochemicals.

plasma screen
n. a flat display screen which uses an array of cells containing an inert gas which emits ultraviolet radiation when ionized to form a plasma, causing visible light of an appropriate colour to be emitted separately for each cell of the screen.

pole dancing
n. erotic dancing which involves swinging around a fixed pole.
— derivatives
pole dancer n.

pop-up
n. 1.
an unrequested browser window, especially one generated for the purpose of advertising.

potsticker
n. a Chinese wonton dumpling which is pan-fried until brown on one side, then turned and simmered in a small amount of broth.

punditocracy
n. an elite or influential class of experts or political commentators.

puppy
n. (pl. puppies) 3. informal, chiefly N. Amer. a person or thing of a specified kind: he's one sick puppy!

quick study
n. N. Amer. a person who adapts quickly and easily to a new job, situation, etc.

random
adj. 1.
Brit. informal rather strange; odd.

road map
n. 2. a document setting out the procedure for achieving a goal: a road map for peace.

sandboard
n. a long, narrow board, often a modified snowboard, used for sliding down sand dunes.
— derivatives
sandboarder n. sandboarding n.

satphone
n. a telephone that transmits its signal via a geostationary communications satellite.

schoolie

— phrases
schoolies week (in Australia) a week of celebrations to mark the end of the final year of senior school.

seitan
n. a type of textured vegetable protein made from wheat gluten, used as a meat substitute.
— origin Japanese, from shokubutsusei tanpaku 'vegetable protein'.

serial comma (also Oxford comma) n. a comma used after the penultimate item in a list of three or more items, before 'and' or 'or' (e.g. an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect).

serrano
n. a small green chilli pepper of a very hot variety.
— origin from Sp., lit. 'of the mountains, highlander'.

sex
v. 2. (sex something up) informal present something in a more interesting or lively way.

shiso
n. a plant of the mint family, native to eastern Asia, chiefly used as a herb in Japanese cookery. Perilla frutescens.
— origin Japanese.

show pony
n. Brit. informal an attractive, stylish, or flamboyant person, especially a performer, who enjoys being in the limelight.

Singlish
n. 1. a variety of English spoken in Singapore, with elements from other local languages. 2. a variety of English spoken in Sri Lanka, incorporating elements of Sinhala.

sky marshal
n. an armed guard who travels incognito on certain international flights, trained to take action in the event of a hijack or other terrorist action.

snowblade
n. a type of short ski about one meter in length, used without ski sticks.
— derivatives
snowblader n. snowblading n.

speed dating
n. an organized social activity in which people have a series of short conversations with potential partners in order to determine whether there is mutual interest.

spinny
adj. Canadian informal mad; crazy.

spyware
n. Computing software that enables a user to obtain covert information about someone's computer activities by transmitting data covertly from their hard drive.

stealth tax
n. a form of taxation levied in a covert or indirect manner.

stevia
n. a shrub native to tropical and subtropical America, whose leaves may be used as a calorie-free substitute for sugar. Stevia rebaudiana.
— origin mod. L. (genus name), named after the 16th-cent. Spanish physician and botanist Pedro Jaime Esteve.

swifty (also swiftie) n. (pl. swifties) informal, chiefly Austral./NZ 3. Brit. an alcoholic drink consumed quickly.

taikonaut
n. a Chinese astronaut.
— origin blend of Chin. taikong 'outer space' and astronaut .

talkboard
n. an Internet bulletin board or chat room.

threequel
n. the third film, book, event, etc. in a series; a second sequel.
— origin 1980s: from three + sequel .

Tiggerish
adj. Brit. very lively, energetic, and cheerful.
— origin from Tigger, a tiger in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, characterized by his vitality.

toothfish (also Patagonian toothfish) n. a large deep-sea fish of the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, prized as food and now endangered. Dissostichus eleginoides.

trackie
n. [usu. as modifier] Brit. informal a tracksuit: trackie bottoms.
(trackies) tracksuit trousers.

tuple
n. Computing a data structure consisting of multiple parts.
(in a relational database) an ordered set of data constituting a record.
— origin from -tuple .

urban
adj. 2. (also urban contemporary) denoting popular dance music of black origin.
— origin C17: from L. urbanus, from urbs, urb- 'city'.

va-va-voom informal n. the quality of being exciting, vigorous, or sexually attractive. adj. sexually attractive: her va-va-voom figure.
— origin 1950s (orig. US): representing the sound of a car engine being revved.

weekend warrior
n. N. Amer. informal a person who participates in an activity only in their spare time.

wiggle room
n. informal, chiefly N. Amer. limited capacity or scope for negotiation, especially in order to modify a previous statement or decision.