Feng Shui 324
MEDICINE 325
Equipment and Instruments 325
Medical Fields and Specialties 328
Medical Terminology and Tests 329
Medicine Chest 333
Surgical and Medical Procedures and Related Terms 337
MILITARY 342
Air Force and Aircraft 342
Army, Ground Forces, and General Military Terms 349
Electronic Warfare 353
Intelligence, Espionage, Deception, and
Psychological Warfare 354
Military Insignia and Ranks 358
Army, Air Force, and Marines 358
Navy and Coast Guard 358
Missiles, Nuclear Weapons, and Rockets 359
Types of Missiles and Rockets 361
Navy and Marines 363
Submarines 368
World War II Slang 369
Army 369
Australian Soldiers 371
Marines 372
Navy 373
Nurses 374
WACs 375
music 376
Keyboard Instruments 376
Music Directives 376
Directives to Individual Instruments 378
Music Terms 379
Percussion Instruments 385
Stringed Instruments 387
Vocals and Song 389
Wind Instruments 390
occupations 392
Farming 392
Firefighting 394
Funeral Services 395
Police and Detectives 397
Politics and Economics 403
Government Forms, Systems, and Philosophies 411
International Relations 412
Publishing and Journalism 416
Book Publishing 418
Book Sizes 422
Book Terms 422
Footnote Abbreviations 423
Headline Types 423
PERFORMING ARTS AND BROADCASTING 425
Dance 425
Ballet 427
Jazz Dancing 428
Square Dancing 430
Tap Dancing 431
Film 432
Special Effects and Camera Techniques 437
Radio 439
Stage and Theater 441
Television 445
RELIGIONS 453
Ancient Religions 453
Ancient Egyptian Worship 453
Greek and Roman Mythology 453
Monsters and Fabulous Creatures 457
Modern Religions 460
Buddhism 460
Christianity 461
Hinduism 466
Islam 468
Judaism 469
SCIENCE 471
Anthropology and Archaeology 471
Astronomy 476
Chemistry 476
Comets 479
Constellations 480
Constellations of the Northern Hemisphere 480
Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere 480
Constellations of the Zodiac 481
Elements 481
Evolution 481
Moon 483
Particles and Particle Physics 484
Space 488
Sun 493
SPORTS 495
Archery 495
Auto Racing 496
Baseball 498
Basketball 504
Bodybuilding 506
Bowling 508
Boxing 511
Bullfighting 513
Canoeing 513
Curling 514
Diving 515
Fencing 515
Fishing 517
Football 519
Frisbee 525
Golf 525
Gymnastics 529
Hockey 531
Hunting 534
Mountaineering 534
Racquetball 535
Rodeo 537
Scuba and Skin Diving 537
Skateboarding 538
Skating 538
Skiing 539
Skydiving 540
Snowboarding 542
Soccer 543
Squash 546
Surfing 547
Tennis 548
Thoroughbred Racing 551
Track and Field 555
Volleyball 556
Windsurfing 557
Wrestling 559
Yoga 560
TOOLS 562
Apparatus 562
Cutting Tools and Knives 563
Hammers and Nail Pullers 563
Pliers 564
Saws 564
Screwdrivers 565
Weights and Measures 565
Wrenches 566
TRANSPORTATION 567
Automobiles 567
Aviation 574
Aircraft 577
Balloons 577
Blimps 578
Helicopters 578
Airports 578
Carriages and Coaches of the 19TH Century 579
Sailing 580
Crew of a Large 18th- or 19th-Century Sailing Vessel 586
Sailing Terms of the 18th and 19th Centuries 587
Ships and Boats 588
Spaceflight 591
Satellites and Space Probes 591
Space Shuttle 594
Shuttle Acronyms 596
Trains and Railroads 596
weapons 598
Clubs and Hammers 598
Daggers 598
Guns and Bullets 598
Types of Guns 600
Pole Arms 600
Swords 601
Torture and Punishment 602
words AND expressions you should know 604
index 646
uction
Welcome to the expanded and updated Descriptionary. This fourth edition includes some extremely interesting and useful new categories, such as Anthropology and Archaeology, Brain, Chemistry, Dinosaurs, Evolution, Fishing, Gems, Jewelry, Prison Slang, Rocks and Gems, Sleep, Surfing, and Torture and Punishment, to name a few. It has also greatly broadened its lists of terms related to farming, finance, geology, Internet, meteorology, occult, psychology, and politics, among others.
As in the last edition, the end of the book features the vocabulary builder, Words You Should Know, which contains more than 1,050 words and expressions every articulate person should know.
Why use Descriptionary?
Descriptionary provides indispensable glossaries of terms to help you define and describe a subject you are writing about, be it cathedrals or castles, the stock market or stock cars. Consult Descriptionary whenever you are tempted to use words such as watchamacallit, thingamajig, or doohickey or whenever you are at a loss for a precise term.
Let's say, for example, you need the word for a sharp, steely descending peak, but you just cannot seem to bring the word to mind. Consult the standard dictionary and you will confront the age-old question of how to look up a word when you do not know what the word is. The answer is, you cannot—not with a standard dictionary, anyway. Nor will a thesaurus offer much help. A thesaurus lists the synonyms of mountains, not the components of mountains.
Enter Descriptionary to find the word you are looking for: matterhorn. This book lists not only definitions and synonyms, but also all the technically accurate words used in describing a mountain—words like cairn, cordillera, couloir, Krumm- holz zone, ridgeback, saddle, scree, and sierra, to name just a few.
Through a Descriptionary listing you will discover that there is a phrase for the leeward side of a mountain (rain shadow), and there is a name for the beautiful light that bathes a peak at sunset (alpenglow), and there is a word for the lateral ridge that projects from the side of a mountain (spur). And unlike when you are using a dictionary, you need only look under Mountains to find them all.
The value of having related words all in one place will become obvious the more you use Descriptionary. For example, you may discover words that you never dreamed existed (do you know where the murder holes are in a castle?) but that you might find useful in giving your work added authority or pizzazz.
Unlike most dictionaries, Descriptionary can be picked up and read for sheer entertainment alone, or for inspiration or ideas.
Introd
Place Descriptionary between your standard dictionary and thesaurus. We think you will find it equally as useful as either of these standard references, with one difference: It is twice as much fun.