Definition (Noun) A tomb or burial-place, a building, vault, or excavation, made for the interment of a human body. Now only rhetorical or historical. In Context “The dirt of the church sepulcher still clung to the cloth of her coat and to her blond hair, and she looked like an angel dragged in the dust.” Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat, 1985.
Definition (Adjective) Of, relating to, or resembling the practices of Procrustes; (hence) enforcing uniformity or conformity without regard to natural variation or individuality. In Context “What socialists invariably want, however much the more squeamish among them may fudge or hedge, is the Procrustean ideal of using state power to squeeze everyone into the same mold, or to chop and stretch everyone to size on the same bed.” Peter Phillips Simpson, Vices, Virtues, and Consequences: Essays in Moral and Political Philosophy, 2001. This word was suggested by Peggy Moorhead Seas in the Office of Development.
Definition (Adjective) Given to using long words. In Context “Poor Miss Matty got sadly puzzled with this, for the words gathered size like snowballs, and towards the end of her letter Miss Jenkyns used to become quite sesquipedalian.” Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford, 1851.
Definition (Adjective) Of substances: Having a glutinous or gluey character. In Context “Fresh slicks of black, viscous oil continued to wash up on to the beaches of north-west Spain yesterday as the fuel left behind by the sunken tanker Prestige began to spread south down the coast.” Giles Tremlett, “Wildlife Suffers As Oil Spreads Along Spanish Coast,” The Guardian, November 21, 2002.
