XYLOID

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 29 November 2011

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XYLOID  (adj.)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) relating to or resembling wood; woody; ligneous

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
Almost all English words beginning with xyl- — and there are quite a few of them — derive from the Greek xylon, meaning “wood.”  Among my other favorites are:

• XYLITOL: a sweet crystalline alcohol, used as a sweetener in some gums and foods
• XYLOCARP: a fruit, such as a coconut, having a hard woody pericarp (fruit wall)
• XYLOGRAPH: an engraving on wood; a woodcut
• XYLOPHAGOUS: feeding on or in wood (as certain insects or crustaceans)

And of course the word that is often used as a common example of a word beginning with X:

• XYLOPHONE: a percussion instrument consisting of a mounted row of wooden bars graduated in length and designed to be struck with small mallets

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter X

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