A Word a Day Keeps the Editor Away

sublimate - refine; purify; replace (natural urges) with socially acceptable activities; change between a solid state and a gaseous state

chaotic - in utter disorder

resilient - elastic; having the power of springing back; able to recover quickly (as from misfortune)

hydrophobia - fear of water; rabies

excerpt - selected passage (written or musical) taken from a longer work; V.

lilliputian - extremely small; CF. Lilliput in Gulliver's Travels

doggerel - poor verse, comic verse composed in irregular rhythm.

cartographer - map-maker

bourgeois - middle class; selfishly materialistic; too interested in material possessions

benefit - advantage; anything that brings helpl, advantage, or profit; money provided by the government to the people; fund-raising public entertainment; Ex. unemployment benefit; V: receive benefits; be beneficial to; give benefits