An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens, particularly opportunistic pathogens—those that take advantage of certain situations—such as bacterial, viral, fungal or protozoan infections that usually do not cause disease in a healthy host, one with a healthy immune system. A compromised immune system, however, presents an "opportunity" for the pathogen to infect. (Wikipedia)
Determinate is the form of cleavage in most protostomes. It results in the developmental fate of the cells being set early in the embryo development. Each cell produced by early embryonic cleavage does not have the capacity to develop into a complete embryo. (Wikipedia)
Original antigenic sin, also known as the Hoskins effect, refers to the propensity of the body's immune system to preferentially utilize immunological memory based on a previous infection when a second slightly different version, of that foreign entity (e.g. a virus or bacterium) is encountered. This leaves the immune system "trapped" by the first response it has made to each antigen, and unable to mount potentially more effective responses during subsequent infections. The phenomenon of original antigenic sin has been described in relation to influenza virus, dengue fever, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and to several other viruses. (Wikipedia)
The third category, in general, referred to as crying or weeping, is increased lacrimation due to strong emotional stress, anger, suffering, mourning, or physical pain. It does not occur during the brain's Fight-or-flight response because the sympathetic nervous system inhibits lacrimation. This practice is not restricted to negative emotions; many people cry when extremely happy. In humans, emotional tears can be accompanied by reddening of the face and sobbing — cough-like, convulsive breathing, sometimes involving spasms of the whole upper body. Tears brought about by emotions have a different chemical make-up than those for lubrication. (Wikipedia)
The second type of tears results from irritation of the eye by foreign particles, or from the presence of irritant substances such as onion vapors, tear gas, or pepper spray in the eye's environment, including the cornea, conjunctiva, or nasal mucosa. It can also occur with bright light and hot or peppery stimuli to the tongue and mouth. It is also linked with vomiting, coughing, and yawning. These reflex tears attempt to wash out irritants that may have come into contact with the eye. (Wikipedia)
A spermatophylax is a gelatinousbolus which some male insects eject during copulation with females through their aedeagi together with spermatophores, and which functions as a nutritive addition for the female. (Wikipedia)
An ovipore is a pore-like sexual organ of a female insect that gets inseminated by the spermatophores ejected by the aedeagus of a male insect during copulation. The spermatophores that pass through the ovipore are stored in most insect species in another organ called spermatheca. (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia tells me that this is also known as "big bang reproduction", since the single reproductive event of semelparous organisms is usually large, as well as fatal...
The torquetum or turquet is a medieval astronomical instrument designed to take and convert measurements made in three sets of coordinates: Horizon, equatorial, and ecliptic. In a sense, the Torquetum is an analog computer. (Wikipedia)
The last living individual of a species, such as Martha the passenger pigeon and possibly Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise.
Ubiquitous gaze, also referred to as pursuing eyes, is an art term for the effect created by certain portraits, such as the Mona Lisa, which give the impression that the subject's eyes are following the viewer. When such a painting is viewed from any angle, the subject's eyes still appear to be looking straight into the viewer's. This is an effect of perspective and may be deliberate or not.
Ubiquitous gaze is a common technique of the trompe-l'œil school of painting, and can be seen in numerous works.
Snaggletooths or stareaters are any of a number of small, deep-sea stomiid fish in the genus Astronesthes. They possess a bioluminescent red chin barbel that the fish use to lure prey into striking distance. (Wikipedia)
An n-parasitic number (in base 10) is a positive natural number which can be multiplied by n by moving the rightmost digit of its decimal representation to the front. Here n is itself a single-digit positive natural number. In other words, the decimal representation undergoes a right circular shift by one place. For example, 4•128205=512820, so 128205 is 4-parasitic. (Wikipedia)
The acardiac twin is a parasitic twin that fails to develop a head, arms and a heart. The parasitic twin, little more than a torso with or without legs, receives its blood supply from the host twin by means of an umbilical cord-like structure, much like a fetus in fetu, except the acardiac twin is outside the host twin's body. Although the reason is not fully understood, it is apparent that deoxygenated blood from the pump twin is perfused to the acardiac twin. The acardiac twin grows along with the pump twin, but due to inadequate perfusion it is unable to develop the structures necessary for life, and presents with dramatic deformities. (Wikipedia)
A vanishing twin, also known as fetal resorption, is a fetus in a multi-gestation pregnancy which dies in utero and is then partially or completely reabsorbed by the mother or twin.
The occurrence of this phenomenon is sometimes referred to as twin embolisation syndrome or vanishing twin syndrome (VTS), since the 1980s when twin pregnancies were made visible early on by means of ultrasound.
Occasionally, rather than being completely reabsorbed, the dead fetus will be compressed by its growing twin to a flattened, parchment-like state known as fetus papyraceus.
A parasitic twin (also known as an asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twin) is the result of the processes that produce vanishing twins and conjoined twins, and may represent a continuum between the two. (Wikipedia)
Parasitic drag (also called skin friction drag) is drag caused by moving a solid object through a fluid medium (in the case of aerodynamics, more specifically, a gaseous medium). Parasitic drag is made up of many components, the most prominent being form drag. Skin friction and interference drag are also major components of parasitic drag. (Wikipedia)
A facultative parasite is an organism that may resort to parasitic activity, but does not absolutely rely on any host for completion of its life cycle. (Wikipedia)
Idiobiont parasitoids are those that prevent further development of the host after initial parasitization; typically they attack a host life stage that is immobile (e.g., an egg or pupa), and almost without exception idiobiont parasitoids live outside the host. (Wikipedia)
Koinobiont parasitoids allow the host to continue its development and often do not kill or consume the host until the host either is about to pupate or become an adult; this therefore typically involves living within an active, mobile host. In turn, koinobionts can be subdivided further into endoparasitoids, which develop inside body of the host, and ectoparasitoids, which develop outside the host body, though the parasitoids frequently are attached or embedded in the host's tissues. (Wikipedia)
Parasitic castration is the strategy, by a parasite, of blocking reproduction by its host, completely or in part. For example, Hemioniscus balani, a parasitic castrator of hermaphroditic barnacles, feeds on ovarian fluid, so that its host loses female reproductive ability but still can function as a male. This would be a case of direct parasitic castration (feeding on host gonads). Indirect strategies are also seen such as diverting host energy from gonad development or secreting castrating hormones.
Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture prey by stealth or cunning, not by speed or necessarily by strength. These organisms usually hide motionless and wait for prey to come within striking distance. They are often camouflaged, and may be solitary. This mode of predation may be most efficient when a predator cannot move faster than its preferred prey; otherwise, active hunting is more efficient. (Wikipedia)
Macroparasites are parasites that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye, in contrast to microparasites. They grow in one host but reproduce by infective stages outside of this host. These generally include ticks, mites, nematodes, flatworms, etc., and can be either external parasites (ectoparasitic) or internal parasites (endoparasitic).
Kettle Logic (la logique du chaudron in the original French) is a type of informal fallacy wherein one uses multiple arguments to defend a point, but the arguments themselves are inconsistent.
The name derives from an example used by Sigmund Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams and in his Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. Freud relates the story that a man who was accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in a damaged condition offered three arguments.
A philosophical zombie or p-zombie in the philosophy of mind and perception is a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except in that it lacks conscious experience, qualia, or sentience.
...
The unifying idea of the zombie is of a human that has no conscious experience, but one might distinguish various types of zombie used in different thought experiments as follows:
A behavioral zombie that is behaviorally indistinguishable from a human.
A neurological zombie that has a human brain and is generally physiologically indistinguishable from a human.
The reminiscence bump is the tendency for older adults to have increased recollection for events that occurred during their adolescence and early adulthood. (Wikipedia)
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory and perception. It may simply be the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, or it could be the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
The term "gaslighting" comes from the play Gas Light and its film adaptations. In those works a character uses a variety of tricks, including turning the gas lamps lower than normal, to convince his spouse that she is crazy. Since then it became a colloquial expression which has now also been used in clinical and research literature
"A hot-cold empathy gap is a cognitive bias in which a person underestimates the influences of visceral drives, and instead attributes behavior primarily to other, nonvisceral factors." (Wikipedia)
In paleontology, an Elvis taxon (plural Elvis taxa) is a taxon which has been misidentified as having re-emerged in the fossil record after a period of presumed extinction, but is not actually a descendant of the original taxon, instead having developed a similar morphology through convergent evolution. This implies the extinction of the original taxon is real, and the two taxa are polyphyletic.
By contrast, a Lazarus taxon is one which actually is a descendant of the original taxon, and highlights missing fossil records, which may be found later. A zombie taxon is a type of Lazarus taxon sample that was mobile in the time between its original death and its subsequent discovery in a site of younger classification, like, for example, a trilobite that gets eroded out of its Cambrian-aged limestone matrix, and reworked into Miocene-aged siltstone.
"One of the two types of sensory nerve ending associated with the neuromuscular spindle (the other being the annulospiral ending); in this type, the fibre branches spread out upon the surface of the intrafusal fibres like a spray of flowers. Synonym: flower-spray organ of Ruffini"
The Hebrew word for "truth" or "real", written in the forehead of a golem (making it animated). Removing the letter aleph changes the mening to "dead" (and deactivates it). See מת
"The muscular coat (muscular layer, muscular fibers, muscularis propria, muscularis externa) is a region of muscle in many organs in the vertebrate body, adjacent to the submucosa membrane. It is responsible for gut movement such as peristalsis." (Wikipedia)
"The zonule of Zinn (Zinn's membrane, ciliary zonule) (after Johann Gottfried Zinn) is a ring of fibrous strands connecting the ciliary body with the crystalline lens of the eye.
The zonule of Zinn is split into two layers: a thin layer, which lines the hyaloid fossa, and a thicker layer, which is a collection of zonular fibers. Together, the fibers are known as the suspensory ligament of the lens." (Wikipedia)
"an epidermal pustule formed by infiltration of neutrophils into necrotic epidermis in which the cell walls persist as a spongelike network; seen in pustular psoriasis."
(now I have to learn some more new words to understand this definition)
"In the Münchausen by Proxy syndrome, an adult care-giver makes a child sick by either fabricating symptoms or actually causing harm to the child, whereby convincing not only the child but others, including medical providers, that their child is sick." (Wikipedia)
"The lower circumference of the lesser pelvis is very irregular; the space enclosed by it is named the inferior aperture or pelvic outlet." (Wikipedia)
"The lower circumference of the lesser pelvis is very irregular; the space enclosed by it is named the inferior aperture or pelvic outlet." (Wikipedia)
"Orientia tsutsugamushi is the causative organism of scrub typhus, and the natural vector and reservoir is probably trombiculid mites (genus Leptotrombidium). The organism is an obligate intracellular pathogen, which needs to infect eukaryotic cells in order to multiply." (Wikipedia)
Found it here: www.english-medical-dictionary.com (where I keep finding random treasures) with this lovely definition:
the red margin of the upper and lower lip that commences at the exterior edge of the intraoral labial mucosa (“moist line”) and extends outward, terminating at the extraoral labial cutaneous junction; a thinly keratinized type of stratified squamous epithelium deeply penetrated by well-vascularized dermal papillae which show through the translucent epidermis to impart the typical red appearance of the lips.
"A venous lake (which are also known as 'Phlebectases') is an asymptomatic, generally solitary, soft, compressible, dark blue to violaceous, 0.2- to 1-cm papule commonly found on sun-exposed surfaces of the vermilion border of the lip, face and ears. Lesions generally occur among the elderly." (Wikipedia)
"movement produced by the inherent power of contraction and relaxation of protoplasm; such movements are of three kinds: muscular, streaming, and ciliary"
I imagine Toxic Megacolon as some sort of superhero (or villain? probably better that way), so then I guess that Toxic Supercolon would fit very well in the same universe...
"A cricothyrotomy (also called thyrocricotomy, cricothyroidotomy, inferior laryngotomy, intercricothyrotomy, coniotomy or emergency airway puncture) is an incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway during certain life-threatening situations, such as airway obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or massive facial trauma." (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia says: "Narcissistic supply is a concept in some psychoanalytic theories which describes a type of admiration, interpersonal support or sustenance drawn by an individual from his or her environment (especially from carers, codependents and others)."
But I like to think of it as some sort of dietary supplement or drug.
"Toxic megacolon (megacolon toxicum) is an acute form of colonic distension. It is characterized by a very dilated colon (megacolon), accompanied by abdominal distension (bloating), and sometimes fever, abdominal pain, or shock." (Wikipedia)
"Megarectum is a large rectum as a result of underlying nerve supply abnormalities or muscle dysfunction, which remains after disimpaction of the rectum. The Principles of Surgery textbook describes any rectum that can hold more than 1500cc of fluid as a megarectum." (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia teaches me some new terms (that I probably never will use (but like anyway)):
A gravida is a pregnant woman.
A nulligravida or gravida 0 is a woman who has never been pregnant.
A primigravida or gravida 1 is a woman who is pregnant for the first time or has been pregnant one time.
A multigravida or more specifically a gravida 2 (also secundigravida), gravida 3, and so on, is a woman who has been pregnant more than one time.
An elderly primigravida is a woman in her first pregnancy, who is at least 35 years old. This term is becoming less common as it may be considered offensive.
"Souffle, in medical terminology, can refer to a sound heard on auscultation of the gravid female. A souffle is a vascular or cardiac murmur with a blowing quality.
Funic souffle (also known as funicular or fetal souffle), is a blowing sound heard in synch with fetal heart sounds, and may originate from the umbilical cord." (Wikipedia)
"A hair whorl is a patch of hair growing in the opposite direction of the rest of the hair. Hair whorls occur in most hairy animals, on the body as well as on the head. Hair whorls, also known as crowns, swirls, trichoglyphs, or cowlicks, can be either clockwise or counterclockwise in direction of growth." (Wikipedia)
"Colloidal gold is a suspension (or colloid) of sub-micrometre-sized particles of gold in a fluid — usually water. The liquid is usually either an intense red colour (for particles less than 100 nm), or a dirty yellowish colour (for larger particles). Due to the unique optical, electronic, and molecular-recognition properties of gold nanoparticles, they are the subject of substantial research, with applications in a wide variety of areas, including electron microscopy, electronics, nanotechnology, and materials science." (Wikipedia)
"Undark was a trade name for luminous paint made with a mixture of radioactive radium and zinc sulfide, as produced by the U.S. Radium Corporation between 1917 and 1938. It was used primarily in watch dials." (Wikipedia)
"Tuberculosis verrucosa cutis (also known as Lupus verrucosus, Prosector's wart, and Warty tuberculosis) is a rash of small, red papular nodules in the skin that may appear 2-4 weeks after inoculation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a previously infected and immunocompetent individual.
It is so called because it was a common occupational disease of prosectors, the preparers of dissections and autopsies." (Wikipedia)
"The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with glow-in-the-dark paint at the United States Radium factory in Orange, New Jersey around 1917. The women, who had been told the paint was harmless, ingested deadly amounts of radium by licking their paintbrushes to sharpen them; some also painted their fingernails and teeth with the glowing substance." (Wikipedia)
"Exotic pollution is a general definition that includes attacks involving nuclear, chemical, or biological agents intended to cause harm or contaminate and make unfit for use." (Wikipedia)
It really bothers me that so many nice swedish words are used as names for bread. Maybe I'll have to stop using them? Or just make a list of them on Wordie?
Comments by deinonychus
Show previous 200 comments...
deinonychus commented on the word tangled hierarchy
A tangled hierarchy is a hierarchical system in which a strange loop appears. (Wikipedia)
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word borderline carnivore
See protocarnivorous.
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word subcarnivorous
See protocarnivorous.
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word paracarnivorous
See protocarnivorous.
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word inavelns navel
Literally "the navel of inbreeding", said about a place. Coined by a dutch friend of mine, who was sad that it didn't work in dutch...
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the list sounding-like-a-superhero
That was the intention...
...and I would be happy if people would give me more suggestions. (Actual words or made-up ones, as long as they aren't "real" superheroes)
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word Disproportionate Response Man
As seen on SMBC.
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word opportunistic pathogen
An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens, particularly opportunistic pathogens—those that take advantage of certain situations—such as bacterial, viral, fungal or protozoan infections that usually do not cause disease in a healthy host, one with a healthy immune system. A compromised immune system, however, presents an "opportunity" for the pathogen to infect. (Wikipedia)
January 13, 2012
deinonychus commented on the list welcome-to-the-oddery
This was indeed a rainy day, but this list made it better.
January 12, 2012
deinonychus commented on the list words-not-suitable-in-academic-publications-that-i-nontheless-use
Only four? You can do better!
January 12, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word wet shock
Same as insulin shock.
January 11, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word determinate cleavage
Determinate is the form of cleavage in most protostomes. It results in the developmental fate of the cells being set early in the embryo development. Each cell produced by early embryonic cleavage does not have the capacity to develop into a complete embryo. (Wikipedia)
January 11, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word original antigenic sin
Original antigenic sin, also known as the Hoskins effect, refers to the propensity of the body's immune system to preferentially utilize immunological memory based on a previous infection when a second slightly different version, of that foreign entity (e.g. a virus or bacterium) is encountered. This leaves the immune system "trapped" by the first response it has made to each antigen, and unable to mount potentially more effective responses during subsequent infections. The phenomenon of original antigenic sin has been described in relation to influenza virus, dengue fever, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and to several other viruses. (Wikipedia)
January 11, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word psychic tears
There are three very basic types of tears: basal tears, reflex tears and crying or weeping (psychic tears).
The third category, in general, referred to as crying or weeping, is increased lacrimation due to strong emotional stress, anger, suffering, mourning, or physical pain. It does not occur during the brain's Fight-or-flight response because the sympathetic nervous system inhibits lacrimation. This practice is not restricted to negative emotions; many people cry when extremely happy. In humans, emotional tears can be accompanied by reddening of the face and sobbing — cough-like, convulsive breathing, sometimes involving spasms of the whole upper body. Tears brought about by emotions have a different chemical make-up than those for lubrication. (Wikipedia)
January 11, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word reflex tears
There are three very basic types of tears: basal tears, reflex tears and crying or weeping (psychic tears).
The second type of tears results from irritation of the eye by foreign particles, or from the presence of irritant substances such as onion vapors, tear gas, or pepper spray in the eye's environment, including the cornea, conjunctiva, or nasal mucosa. It can also occur with bright light and hot or peppery stimuli to the tongue and mouth. It is also linked with vomiting, coughing, and yawning. These reflex tears attempt to wash out irritants that may have come into contact with the eye. (Wikipedia)
January 11, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word basal tears
There are three very basic types of tears: basal tears, reflex tears and crying or weeping (psychic tears).
In healthy mammalian eyes, the cornea is continually kept wet and nourished by basal tears. They lubricate the eye, and help to keep it clear of dust. Tear fluid contains water, mucin, lipids, lysozyme, lactoferrin, lipocalin, lacritin, immunoglobulins, glucose, urea, sodium, and potassium. (Wikipedia)
January 11, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word sleep inertia
Sleep inertia is a physiological state characterised by a decline in motor dexterity and a subjective feeling of grogginess immediately following an abrupt awakening. The impaired alertness may interfere with the ability to perform mental or physical tasks. Sleep inertia can also refer to the tendency of a person wanting to return to sleep. (Wikipedia)
January 11, 2012
deinonychus commented on the user hernesheir
Nice to hear... (I find myself in your lists every now and then)
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word spermatophylax
A spermatophylax is a gelatinous bolus which some male insects eject during copulation with females through their aedeagi together with spermatophores, and which functions as a nutritive addition for the female. (Wikipedia)
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word hidden angel shark
(Squatina occulta)
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word ovipore
An ovipore is a pore-like sexual organ of a female insect that gets inseminated by the spermatophores ejected by the aedeagus of a male insect during copulation. The spermatophores that pass through the ovipore are stored in most insect species in another organ called spermatheca. (Wikipedia)
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word iteroparity
An iteroparous organism is one that can undergo many reproductive events throughout its lifetime. (Wikipedia)
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word big bang spawner
See semelparity.
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word big bang reproduction
See semelparity.
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word semelparity
Wikipedia tells me that this is also known as "big bang reproduction", since the single reproductive event of semelparous organisms is usually large, as well as fatal...
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word torquetum
The torquetum or turquet is a medieval astronomical instrument designed to take and convert measurements made in three sets of coordinates: Horizon, equatorial, and ecliptic. In a sense, the Torquetum is an analog computer. (Wikipedia)
January 10, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word endling
The last living individual of a species, such as Martha the passenger pigeon and possibly Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise.
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the user apocalipstick
against-nature - a list for you?
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the user ruzuzu
I'm happy to hear that! Nobody had said "welcome to Wordnik" before you did, but I've been feeling more and more at home here, lately.
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word ubiquitous gaze
Ubiquitous gaze, also referred to as pursuing eyes, is an art term for the effect created by certain portraits, such as the Mona Lisa, which give the impression that the subject's eyes are following the viewer. When such a painting is viewed from any angle, the subject's eyes still appear to be looking straight into the viewer's. This is an effect of perspective and may be deliberate or not.
Ubiquitous gaze is a common technique of the trompe-l'œil school of painting, and can be seen in numerous works.
(Wikipedia)
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word nightmare dreamer
A fish (Oneirodes epithales).
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
List of animals with fraudulent diplomas, List of (historical) pigs and List of fictional pigs.
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word stareater
Snaggletooths or stareaters are any of a number of small, deep-sea stomiid fish in the genus Astronesthes. They possess a bioluminescent red chin barbel that the fish use to lure prey into striking distance. (Wikipedia)
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word smooth dreamer
A fish, (Chaenophryne draco).
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word bulbous dreamer
A fish (Oneirodes eschrichtii).
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word spiny dreamer
A fish (Oneirodes acanthias).
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the list words-for-deinonychus
Yay! Parasites!
January 9, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word parasitic number
An n-parasitic number (in base 10) is a positive natural number which can be multiplied by n by moving the rightmost digit of its decimal representation to the front. Here n is itself a single-digit positive natural number. In other words, the decimal representation undergoes a right circular shift by one place. For example, 4•128205=512820, so 128205 is 4-parasitic. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word parasitic eel
"The snubnosed eel, Simenchelys parasitica, also known as the pug-nosed eel, slime eel, or snub-nose parasitic eel, is a species of deep-sea eel and the only member of its genus."
"Although typically a scavenger, it is better known for using its powerful jaws and teeth to burrow into larger fishes as a parasite."
(Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word devil facial tumour disease
A transmissible parasitic cancer that affects Tasmanian devils.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word parasitic cancer
A parasitic cancer or transmissible cancer is a cancer cell or cluster of cancer cells that can be transmitted from animal to animal. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word parasitic cone
A parasitic cone (or satellite cone) is the cone-shaped accumulation of volcanic material not part of the central vent of a volcano. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the list parasitic
Thanks! I'm hoping this is a way to make my Wikipedia mania result in something... a little less ephemeral.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word pump twin
See acardiac twin.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word acardiac twin
The acardiac twin is a parasitic twin that fails to develop a head, arms and a heart. The parasitic twin, little more than a torso with or without legs, receives its blood supply from the host twin by means of an umbilical cord-like structure, much like a fetus in fetu, except the acardiac twin is outside the host twin's body. Although the reason is not fully understood, it is apparent that deoxygenated blood from the pump twin is perfused to the acardiac twin. The acardiac twin grows along with the pump twin, but due to inadequate perfusion it is unable to develop the structures necessary for life, and presents with dramatic deformities. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word fetus papyraceus
See vanishing twin.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word fetal resorption
See vanishing twin.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word vanishing twin
A vanishing twin, also known as fetal resorption, is a fetus in a multi-gestation pregnancy which dies in utero and is then partially or completely reabsorbed by the mother or twin.
The occurrence of this phenomenon is sometimes referred to as twin embolisation syndrome or vanishing twin syndrome (VTS), since the 1980s when twin pregnancies were made visible early on by means of ultrasound.
Occasionally, rather than being completely reabsorbed, the dead fetus will be compressed by its growing twin to a flattened, parchment-like state known as fetus papyraceus.
(Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word parasitic twin
A parasitic twin (also known as an asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twin) is the result of the processes that produce vanishing twins and conjoined twins, and may represent a continuum between the two. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word parasitic drag
Parasitic drag (also called skin friction drag) is drag caused by moving a solid object through a fluid medium (in the case of aerodynamics, more specifically, a gaseous medium). Parasitic drag is made up of many components, the most prominent being form drag. Skin friction and interference drag are also major components of parasitic drag. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word sclerenchymatic guillotine
I found this reading about parasitic plants. It is what the Nuytsia floribunda uses to cut off the host root.
And this is what it looks like.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word Varroa destructor
A parasitic mite that attacks honey bees, causing varroatosis.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word facultative parasite
A facultative parasite is an organism that may resort to parasitic activity, but does not absolutely rely on any host for completion of its life cycle. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word obligate parasite
An obligate parasite is a parasitic organism that cannot complete its life cycle without exploiting a suitable host. (Wikipedia)
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word multiparasitism
When a host is parasitized by more than one species.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word idiobiont parasitoid
Idiobiont parasitoids are those that prevent further development of the host after initial parasitization; typically they attack a host life stage that is immobile (e.g., an egg or pupa), and almost without exception idiobiont parasitoids live outside the host. (Wikipedia)
See koinobiont parasitoid.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word koinobiont parasitoid
Koinobiont parasitoids allow the host to continue its development and often do not kill or consume the host until the host either is about to pupate or become an adult; this therefore typically involves living within an active, mobile host. In turn, koinobionts can be subdivided further into endoparasitoids, which develop inside body of the host, and ectoparasitoids, which develop outside the host body, though the parasitoids frequently are attached or embedded in the host's tissues. (Wikipedia)
See idiobiont parasitoid.
January 8, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word parasitic castration
Parasitic castration is the strategy, by a parasite, of blocking reproduction by its host, completely or in part. For example, Hemioniscus balani, a parasitic castrator of hermaphroditic barnacles, feeds on ovarian fluid, so that its host loses female reproductive ability but still can function as a male. This would be a case of direct parasitic castration (feeding on host gonads). Indirect strategies are also seen such as diverting host energy from gonad development or secreting castrating hormones.
(Wikipedia)
January 7, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word vampire finch
Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis, a bloodsucking bird native to the Galápagos Islands.
January 7, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word sit-and-wait predator
Same as ambush predator.
January 7, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word ambush predator
Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture prey by stealth or cunning, not by speed or necessarily by strength. These organisms usually hide motionless and wait for prey to come within striking distance. They are often camouflaged, and may be solitary. This mode of predation may be most efficient when a predator cannot move faster than its preferred prey; otherwise, active hunting is more efficient. (Wikipedia)
January 7, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word macroparasite
Macroparasites are parasites that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye, in contrast to microparasites. They grow in one host but reproduce by infective stages outside of this host. These generally include ticks, mites, nematodes, flatworms, etc., and can be either external parasites (ectoparasitic) or internal parasites (endoparasitic).
(Wikipedia)
January 7, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word delusory cleptoparasitosis
A form of delusional parasitosis where "the sufferer believes the infestation is in their dwelling, rather than on or in their body." (Wikipedia)
January 6, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word kettle logic
Kettle Logic (la logique du chaudron in the original French) is a type of informal fallacy wherein one uses multiple arguments to defend a point, but the arguments themselves are inconsistent.
The name derives from an example used by Sigmund Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams and in his Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. Freud relates the story that a man who was accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in a damaged condition offered three arguments.
That he had returned the kettle undamaged;
That it was already damaged when he borrowed it;
That he had never borrowed it in the first place.
(Wikipedia)
January 3, 2012
deinonychus commented on the word philosophical zombie
From Wikipedia:
A philosophical zombie or p-zombie in the philosophy of mind and perception is a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except in that it lacks conscious experience, qualia, or sentience.
...
The unifying idea of the zombie is of a human that has no conscious experience, but one might distinguish various types of zombie used in different thought experiments as follows:
A behavioral zombie that is behaviorally indistinguishable from a human.
A neurological zombie that has a human brain and is generally physiologically indistinguishable from a human.
A soulless zombie that lacks a "soul."
December 31, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word dysrationalia
Dysrationalia is defined as the inability to think and behave rationally despite adequate intelligence. (Wikipedia)
December 31, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word reminiscence bump
The reminiscence bump is the tendency for older adults to have increased recollection for events that occurred during their adolescence and early adulthood. (Wikipedia)
December 31, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word gaslighting
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory and perception. It may simply be the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, or it could be the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
The term "gaslighting" comes from the play Gas Light and its film adaptations. In those works a character uses a variety of tricks, including turning the gas lamps lower than normal, to convince his spouse that she is crazy. Since then it became a colloquial expression which has now also been used in clinical and research literature
(Wikipedia)
December 31, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word empathy gap
"A hot-cold empathy gap is a cognitive bias in which a person underestimates the influences of visceral drives, and instead attributes behavior primarily to other, nonvisceral factors." (Wikipedia)
December 31, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word lesser extinction
A sort of mass extinction.
December 20, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word mass extinction
The same as extinction event, extinction-level event and biotic crisis.
December 20, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Great Dying
The Permian–Triassic extinction event.
December 20, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Lazarus taxon
A taxon that disappears from one or more periods of the fossil record, only to appear again later.
December 20, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Elvis taxon
In paleontology, an Elvis taxon (plural Elvis taxa) is a taxon which has been misidentified as having re-emerged in the fossil record after a period of presumed extinction, but is not actually a descendant of the original taxon, instead having developed a similar morphology through convergent evolution. This implies the extinction of the original taxon is real, and the two taxa are polyphyletic.
By contrast, a Lazarus taxon is one which actually is a descendant of the original taxon, and highlights missing fossil records, which may be found later. A zombie taxon is a type of Lazarus taxon sample that was mobile in the time between its original death and its subsequent discovery in a site of younger classification, like, for example, a trilobite that gets eroded out of its Cambrian-aged limestone matrix, and reworked into Miocene-aged siltstone.
(From Wikipedia)
December 20, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word context
Also the same as trama: the mass of non-hymenial tissues that composes the mass of a fungal fruiting body.
December 19, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word cocoanut
I read "coconaut"... Sounded like a dream job...
December 18, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word flower-spray organ of Ruffini
Synonym: flower-spray ending.
December 3, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word flower-spray ending
"One of the two types of sensory nerve ending associated with the neuromuscular spindle (the other being the annulospiral ending); in this type, the fibre branches spread out upon the surface of the intrafusal fibres like a spray of flowers. Synonym: flower-spray organ of Ruffini"
December 3, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word מת
See אמת
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word אמת
The Hebrew word for "truth" or "real", written in the forehead of a golem (making it animated). Removing the letter aleph changes the mening to "dead" (and deactivates it). See מת
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word fugitive swelling
Loa loa filariasis, a skin and eye disease caused by the nematode worm, loa loa.
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word muscular coat
"The muscular coat (muscular layer, muscular fibers, muscularis propria, muscularis externa) is a region of muscle in many organs in the vertebrate body, adjacent to the submucosa membrane. It is responsible for gut movement such as peristalsis." (Wikipedia)
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word zonule of Zinn
"The zonule of Zinn (Zinn's membrane, ciliary zonule) (after Johann Gottfried Zinn) is a ring of fibrous strands connecting the ciliary body with the crystalline lens of the eye.
The zonule of Zinn is split into two layers: a thin layer, which lines the hyaloid fossa, and a thicker layer, which is a collection of zonular fibers. Together, the fibers are known as the suspensory ligament of the lens." (Wikipedia)
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Valentine position
"A supine position on a table with double inclined plane so as to cause flexion at the hips, used to facilitate urethral irrigation."
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word null cell
"A null cell is a large granular lymphocyte without surface markers or membrane-associated proteins from B lymphocytes or T lymphocytes." (Wikipedia)
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word active mutant
A mutant with overt phenotypic expression.
December 2, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word dottersvulst
Metastasis. Literally "daughter tumour".
December 1, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word spongiform pustule of Kogoj
"an epidermal pustule formed by infiltration of neutrophils into necrotic epidermis in which the cell walls persist as a spongelike network; seen in pustular psoriasis."
(now I have to learn some more new words to understand this definition)
December 1, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word harmonic mean
This could be an alignment in a role-playing game of some sort...
December 1, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word butterfly eruption
A symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus.
December 1, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Münchhausen by proxy
"In the Münchausen by Proxy syndrome, an adult care-giver makes a child sick by either fabricating symptoms or actually causing harm to the child, whereby convincing not only the child but others, including medical providers, that their child is sick." (Wikipedia)
November 30, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word inferior aperture
"The lower circumference of the lesser pelvis is very irregular; the space enclosed by it is named the inferior aperture or pelvic outlet." (Wikipedia)
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word pelvic outlet
"The lower circumference of the lesser pelvis is very irregular; the space enclosed by it is named the inferior aperture or pelvic outlet." (Wikipedia)
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Orientia tsutsugamushi
"Orientia tsutsugamushi is the causative organism of scrub typhus, and the natural vector and reservoir is probably trombiculid mites (genus Leptotrombidium). The organism is an obligate intracellular pathogen, which needs to infect eukaryotic cells in order to multiply." (Wikipedia)
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word vermilion zone
Found it here: www.english-medical-dictionary.com (where I keep finding random treasures) with this lovely definition:
the red margin of the upper and lower lip that commences at the exterior edge of the intraoral labial mucosa (“moist line”) and extends outward, terminating at the extraoral labial cutaneous junction; a thinly keratinized type of stratified squamous epithelium deeply penetrated by well-vascularized dermal papillae which show through the translucent epidermis to impart the typical red appearance of the lips.
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word venous lake
"A venous lake (which are also known as 'Phlebectases') is an asymptomatic, generally solitary, soft, compressible, dark blue to violaceous, 0.2- to 1-cm papule commonly found on sun-exposed surfaces of the vermilion border of the lip, face and ears. Lesions generally occur among the elderly." (Wikipedia)
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word retromammary space
"Retromammary space is a loose areolar tissue that separates the breast from the pectoralis major muscle." (Wikipedia)
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word dysversion
"A turning in any direction, but not a complete turning over."
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word mixed tumor
"A mixed tumor is a tumor that derives from multiple tissue types" (Wikipedia)
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word paralyssa
"A paralytic form of rabies caused by the bite of the vampire bat (Desmodus)."
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word protoplasmic movement
"movement produced by the inherent power of contraction and relaxation of protoplasm; such movements are of three kinds: muscular, streaming, and ciliary"
November 29, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word toxic megacolon
I imagine Toxic Megacolon as some sort of superhero (or villain? probably better that way), so then I guess that Toxic Supercolon would fit very well in the same universe...
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word coniotomy
"A cricothyrotomy (also called thyrocricotomy, cricothyroidotomy, inferior laryngotomy, intercricothyrotomy, coniotomy or emergency airway puncture) is an incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway during certain life-threatening situations, such as airway obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or massive facial trauma." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word narcissistic supply
Wikipedia says: "Narcissistic supply is a concept in some psychoanalytic theories which describes a type of admiration, interpersonal support or sustenance drawn by an individual from his or her environment (especially from carers, codependents and others)."
But I like to think of it as some sort of dietary supplement or drug.
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word toxic megacolon
"Toxic megacolon (megacolon toxicum) is an acute form of colonic distension. It is characterized by a very dilated colon (megacolon), accompanied by abdominal distension (bloating), and sometimes fever, abdominal pain, or shock." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word megarectum
"Megarectum is a large rectum as a result of underlying nerve supply abnormalities or muscle dysfunction, which remains after disimpaction of the rectum. The Principles of Surgery textbook describes any rectum that can hold more than 1500cc of fluid as a megarectum." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word mammary souffle
"Mammary souffle is a maternal cardiac murmur heard over the gravid breasts." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word gravid
Wikipedia teaches me some new terms (that I probably never will use (but like anyway)):
A gravida is a pregnant woman.
A nulligravida or gravida 0 is a woman who has never been pregnant.
A primigravida or gravida 1 is a woman who is pregnant for the first time or has been pregnant one time.
A multigravida or more specifically a gravida 2 (also secundigravida), gravida 3, and so on, is a woman who has been pregnant more than one time.
An elderly primigravida is a woman in her first pregnancy, who is at least 35 years old. This term is becoming less common as it may be considered offensive.
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word fetal souffle
"Souffle, in medical terminology, can refer to a sound heard on auscultation of the gravid female. A souffle is a vascular or cardiac murmur with a blowing quality.
Funic souffle (also known as funicular or fetal souffle), is a blowing sound heard in synch with fetal heart sounds, and may originate from the umbilical cord." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word hair whorl
"A hair whorl is a patch of hair growing in the opposite direction of the rest of the hair. Hair whorls occur in most hairy animals, on the body as well as on the head. Hair whorls, also known as crowns, swirls, trichoglyphs, or cowlicks, can be either clockwise or counterclockwise in direction of growth." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word superior meatus
"The superior meatus, the smallest of the three meatuses of the nose, occupies the middle third of the lateral wall of the nasal cavity." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word nocturnal vertigo
"a feeling of falling when dropping off to sleep."
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word cicatricotomy
"Cutting a scar. (Rarely used.)" (www.english-medical-dictionary.com)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word aurum potabile
"Colloidal gold is a suspension (or colloid) of sub-micrometre-sized particles of gold in a fluid — usually water. The liquid is usually either an intense red colour (for particles less than 100 nm), or a dirty yellowish colour (for larger particles). Due to the unique optical, electronic, and molecular-recognition properties of gold nanoparticles, they are the subject of substantial research, with applications in a wide variety of areas, including electron microscopy, electronics, nanotechnology, and materials science." (Wikipedia)
November 28, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Undark
"Undark was a trade name for luminous paint made with a mixture of radioactive radium and zinc sulfide, as produced by the U.S. Radium Corporation between 1917 and 1938. It was used primarily in watch dials." (Wikipedia)
November 27, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word prosector's wart
"Tuberculosis verrucosa cutis (also known as Lupus verrucosus, Prosector's wart, and Warty tuberculosis) is a rash of small, red papular nodules in the skin that may appear 2-4 weeks after inoculation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a previously infected and immunocompetent individual.
It is so called because it was a common occupational disease of prosectors, the preparers of dissections and autopsies." (Wikipedia)
November 27, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Radium Girls
"The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with glow-in-the-dark paint at the United States Radium factory in Orange, New Jersey around 1917. The women, who had been told the paint was harmless, ingested deadly amounts of radium by licking their paintbrushes to sharpen them; some also painted their fingernails and teeth with the glowing substance." (Wikipedia)
November 27, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word exotic pollution
"Exotic pollution is a general definition that includes attacks involving nuclear, chemical, or biological agents intended to cause harm or contaminate and make unfit for use." (Wikipedia)
November 27, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word livspusslet
I love that it is added to the list of foreign sounding insults! It's the only way I know to handle the newspeak I'm surrounded by...
October 18, 2011
deinonychus commented on the word Äntligen
It really bothers me that so many nice swedish words are used as names for bread. Maybe I'll have to stop using them? Or just make a list of them on Wordie?
June 4, 2009