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by numbers

Definition of by numbers

  1. :  in a way that follows the rules or instructions but that is not interesting or original Dancing by numbers isn't good enough. You have to really feel the music.

Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd

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Trending: 'Acrostic' Spikes Following Hidden Messages in Letters of Resignation
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Vocabulary Thrives in Darkness
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Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?
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Drawing a Conclusion About "Sketchy"

Seen and Heard

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WORD OF THE DAY

opine

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to state as an opinion

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TRENDING NOW

  1. acrostic "The initial letters form a word"

  2. Svengali 'A person who manipulates'

  3. syzygy An obscure astronomy term goes mainstream

  4. hegemon "Something having dominant influence over others"

  5. repugnant Trump clarifies his position on racism

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Words at Play

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Drawing a Conclusion About "Sketchy"

How did "sketchy" come to describe creeps?

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What's the Singular of 'Scissors'?

A tricky, double-edged word origin.

a-woman-waits-at-the-end-of-a-gloomy-pier-does-she-wait-for-charon-the-ferryman-to-the-underworld-it-is-dark-but-she-carries-a-parasol
Great Words for Twilight and Darkness

Words for the goth in all of us

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Helium: This Word Brought to You by a Solar Eclipse

And by the Sun, with some help from Greek.

Ask the Editors

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Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

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Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

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Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

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Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

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Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

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Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

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Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

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