Words

Plain-English definitions for words, phrases and proper names.

Some searches are not slang, numbers or acronyms. They are the ordinary questions that send you to a dictionary: what does grist mean, why is it called the Flatiron Building, or what is a stream bed? The Words section gives those terms the same plain-English treatment as the rest of What That Mean. Each entry starts with the direct definition, separates literal and figurative uses, explains the origin or context that makes the term memorable, and shows how people actually use it. Proper names get context instead of a fake one-line translation; technical terms get a note about where the definition is accepted and where it is debated. The goal is simple: understand the word before you repeat it.

Entries

• Flatiron Building

  New York’s famous triangular skyscraper, originally named the Fuller Building and nicknamed for its cast-iron shape.

• grist

  Grain prepared for grinding, or figuratively anything that can be turned to use or advantage.

• mantis shrimp

  A marine crustacean in the order Stomatopoda, famous for powerful hunting limbs and complex vision.

• mulholland

  Usually a proper name: an Irish surname and the name of Los Angeles landmarks associated with engineer William Mulholland.

• non descript

  Plain or unremarkable, with no distinctive feature that makes it easy to recognize or classify.

• oral phase

  The infancy stage in Freudian theory when the mouth is described as the main source of sensation and gratification.

• self-replicate

  To make an identical or similar copy of itself without an outside agent performing every step.

• snap a football

  To move the ball backward from the center to the quarterback or holder to start a play in gridiron football.

• stream bed

  The bottom or channel in which a stream flows, or used to flow when the channel is dry.

• viewfinder

  The camera window or display used to frame, focus and compose the picture before you press the shutter.