Word for the day

from: Dictionary

donnybrook \DON-ee-brook\, noun:1. A brawl; a free-for-all.2. A heated quarrel or dispute.

But this was the beginning of Tommy's years of fighting back, a period that ended in a donnybrook conducted all over the O'Connor house.-- Tracy Kidder, Home Town

Wine and talk flow freely, so much so that the meal ends with a Rooney family donnybrook over, typically enough, religion and politics.-- Howard Frank Mosher, "24 Hours in Due East, S.C.", New York Times, April 7, 1991

The author finds few villains in "West Virginia's Battle of the Books," which describes a donnybrook over the content of public school textbooks during the mid-70's in the "seemingly placid community" of Charleston, W.Va.-- Kaye Northcott, "Round Up the Usual Enigmas", New York Times, February 23, 1992

A donnybrook is so called after Donnybrook, Ireland, a suburb of Dublin that once held an annual fair known for its brawls.

Word for the day

fettle \FET-l\, noun:A state or condition of fitness or order; state of mind; spirits --

often used in the phrase "in fine fettle."

Aside from the problems with her voice . . . Miss Garland was in fine fettle last night.-- Vincent Canby, "Judy Garland Sets the Palace Alight", New York Times, August 1, 1967

Back in 1987, the Conservatives won a thumping majority in a June general election, primarily because the economy was seen by grateful voters to be in fine fettle.-- Larry Elliott, "Danger of a recurring nightmare", The Guardian, June 18, 2001

Many of the nuns were in fine fettle, even into their 80s and 90s.-- John McCrone, "Sisters of mercy", The Guardian, August 18, 2001

He seems in fine fettle when we meet, and happy to discuss the film that gave him his break.-- Charlotte O'Sullivan, "Naked ambition", The Guardian, February 7, 1999

Fettle is from Middle English fetlen, "to set in order," originally "to gird up," from Old English fetel, "a girdle."

from: word for the day