Consanguinity

Consanguinity
- Relationship by descent from a common ancestor
- Relation by blood.

Table showing degrees of Consanguinity.
Image Credits : E. Bruce Berman, Jr.

Usage:
- Some states prohibit marriage where there is a degree of consanguinity.
- This data highlights the need for the creation of awareness by governments among people, regarding the ill-effects of consanguineous marriage, a practice which is widely prevalent. 

206 #WordOfTheDay

Fecund

Fecund
- Able to produce a lot of crops, fruit, babies, young animals, etc.
- Very productive or creative intellectually.
- Producing or creating a lot of new things, ideas, etc.

Left:
The full title on the curation card was Railing Pillar: Goddess and an Amorous Couple. The sculpture is from India, Madhya Pradesh, Bharhut c. 100 B.C.E. It was part of the Great Stupa (reliquary mound) at Bharhut, The goddess symbolizes nature and fertility; thee mango tree she grasps instantly sprouts forth with ripened fruit. Her left hand points to an Amourous couple(extreme left) ; Indian art frequently shows lovers in such embraces to denote prosperity and fecundity. The unabashed eroticism of much ancient Indian art is quite beautiful.
Right: 
Fecundity, a single plant's bumper crop on the ground.

Usage:
- Rabbits are often considered to be fecund animals.
- The waters of this coast, fecund with the nutrients of the Humboldt current, are dazzlingly rich.

Image Credits : 
Paul 
Thad Zajdowicz

205 #WordOfTheDay

Jumping the broom

Jumping the broom or jumping the besom.
- Jumping the broom" is an informal marriage or partnership.
- To get married.

Image Credits : Gem  

Usage:
- Jim and Jane have decided to jump over the broomstick.
- The happiest day of my life was when your mother said she'd jump over the broomstick with me.

Origins:
This is an African American phrase and custom for marriage.
Brooms were waved over the heads of marrying couples to ward off spirits. The couple would often but not always jump over the broom at the end of the ceremony. Jumping over the broom symbolized the wife's commitment or willingness to clean the courtyard of the new home she had joined. Furthermore, it expressed her overall commitment to the house.

204 #WordOfTheDay

Walk the plank

Walk the plank.
- To be forced to accept the consequences of something.
- If someone in a position of authority walks the plank, they accept responsibility for something bad that has happened and leave their position

Image Credits : Daa Nell

Usage:
- Key executives should walk the plank first when things go spectacularly wrong.
- Will vulnerable Democrats 'walk the plank' on impeachment?

Origin:
- Many people believe that pirates used to kill their prisoners by forcing them to walk along a plank or gangplank sticking out from the edge of a ship until they fell into the sea.

203 #WordOfTheDay

Under the weather

Under the weather
- Mildly ill.
- Drunk
- Suffering from a hangover.

Image Credits : Santanu Vasant

Usage:
- We were out celebrating Valerie's birthday last night—that's why we're all under the weather today.
- I was under the weather last week, but I'm feeling much better now.
- Do you remember last night at the bar at all? You were really under the weather!
- Climate change has literally brought under the weather the Rs 3,500-crore fruit economy of Himachal Pradesh.

202 #WordOfTheDay

Hale and Hearty

Hale and Hearty
- Healthy and strong(especially of old people).

Image Credits : Neil Moralee  

Usage:
- The noted director has successfully won the battle against cancer and is all hale and hearty.
- She’s still hale and hearty at 83.

201 #WordOfTheDay

Quagmire

Quagmire
- An area of soft, wet ground that you sink into if you try to walk on it.
- A difficult and dangerous situation.

Image Credits : Paul Rowe   

Usage:
- Let's see how Boris Johnson plans to escape from the Brexit quagmire.
- Our firm is just inching out of quagmire of past troubles.

200 #WordOfTheDay

Deleterious

Deleterious
- Something which causes harm or damage.

Nail biting usually leads to deleterious effects not only to fingers, but also mouth and more generally the digestive system.
Image Credits : Neil Moralee

Usage:
- Divorce is assumed to have deleterious effects on children
- Drugs have a proven deleterious effect on the nervous system.

199 #WordOfTheDay

Bulwark

Bulwark
- Someone or something that protects or defends something such as a belief, idea, or way of life

Wood bulwark against neighbor's pets.
Image Credits : Alexandre Gallier 

Usage:
- Scientists say the vast amazon rain-forest is a bulwark against global warming, as its lush vegetation absorbs heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Private consumption growth — the bulwark of India's growth story in recent years.

198 #WordOfTheDay

Embargo

Embargo
- An official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country.
- Impose an official ban on something.

SC fixes date to hear pleas against Article 370 abrogation, puts embargo on fresh pleas.
Image Credits : Algae Rhythm 

Usage:
- A trade embargo against certain countries.
- SC fixes date to hear pleas against Article 370 abrogation, puts embargo on fresh pleas

197 #WordOfTheDay

Carte Blanche

Carte Blanche
- Unconditional authority; full discretionary power:

Image Credits : Defence Images 

Usage:
- The Supreme Court gave the high courts carte blanche to decide the location of the district courts where the experiment should be held and any other issues concerning the subject.
- The government appears to have given the military carte blanche in Afghanistan.

197 #WordOfTheDay

Linchpin

Linchpin
- A person or thing regarded as an essential or coordinating element.

Image Credits : Thamizhpparithi Maari

Usage:
- He's the linchpin of our team and crucial to my long-term plans.
- This witness is the linchpin of the defense's case.

196 #WordOfTheDay

Morbid

Morbid
- Too interested in unpleasant subjects, especially death.
- Relating to or characterized by disease

Image Credits : Cameron Browning 

Usage:
- A lot of us feel that talking about “Making a Will” is pretty morbid.
- I hop on planes without morbid thoughts.

195 #WordOfTheDay

Resuscitate

Resuscitate
- Revive someone from unconsciousness or apparent death.
- Make something active or vigorous again.

Coast Guard saves 2-year-old child who fell from vessel in Chicago
Image Credits : Coast Guard News

Usage:
- Paramedics resuscitate man who crashed car.
- Can we resuscitate our struggling share-market?

194 #WordOfTheDay