|
 Merriam-Webster's
Word of the Year 2008
With politics and the
economy foremost on the
minds of many, it is no
wonder that bailout—a
word ubiquitously
featured in discussions
of the presidency and
fiscal policy—took home
honors as
Merriam-Webster's Word of
the Year for 2008.
Bailout, defined
in Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate® Dictionary,
Eleventh Edition as
"a rescue from financial
distress," received the
highest intensity of
lookups on
Merriam-Webster Online
over the shortest period
of time. As evident from
the 2008 Word of the Year
contenders list below,
the presidential campaign
and financial issues
factored heavily in the
concerns of our online
visitors throughout the
year.
Traffic to
Merriam-Webster Online
now exceeds 125 million
individual page views per
month. This corresponds
to approximately ten
lookup requests in the
Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary or
Thesaurus per second.
During peak hours, this
may increase to more than
100 requests per second.
Merriam-Webster's
#1 Word of the Year for
2008:
1. bailout (noun)
a rescue from financial
distress
Click on each of the
other words in the Top
Ten List for more
definitions and
information from the
Merriam Webster
Unabridged Online
Dictionary.
2.
vet
(transitive verb)
b:
to evaluate for possible
approval or acceptance
3.
socialism
(noun)
any of various economic
and political theories
advocating collective or
governmental ownership
and administration of the
means of production and
distribution of goods
 4.
maverick
(noun)
an independent individual
who does not go along
with a group or party
5.
bipartisan
(adjective)
of, relating to, or
involving members of two
parties ;
specifically
: marked
by or involving
cooperation, agreement,
and compromise between
two major political
parties
6.
trepidation
(noun)
timorous uncertain
agitation
7.
precipice
(noun)
a hazardous situation
8.
rogue
(noun)
a mischievous person
9.
misogyny
(noun) a hatred of
women
10.
turmoil
(noun) a state or
condition of extreme
confusion, agitation, or
commotion
Previous Words of the
Year
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word get into a
Merriam-Webster
dictionary, you ask?
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here
for the scoop.
Source:
Merriam-Webster
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