AGLET – The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.
ARMSAYE – The armhole in clothing.
CHANKING – Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.
COLUMELLA NASI – The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.
DRAGÉES – Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-colored, used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.
FEAT – A dangling curl of hair.
FERRULE – The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.
HARP – The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.
HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER – A 64th note. (A 32nd is a demisemiquaver, and a 16th note is a semiquaver.)
JARNS,
NITTLES,
GRAWLIX,
and QUIMP – Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.
KEEPER – The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.
KICK or PUNT – The indentation at the bottom of some wine bottles. It gives added strength to the bottle but lessens its holding capacity.
LIRIPIPE – The long tail on a graduate’s academic hood.
MINIMUS – The little finger or toe.
NEF – An ornamental stand in the shape of a ship.
OBDORMITION – The numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a limb is `asleep’.
OCTOTHORPE – The symbol `#’ on a telephone handset. Bell Labs’ engineer Don Macpherson created the word in the 1960s by combining octo-, as in eight, with the name of one of his favorite athletes, 1912 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe.
OPHRYON – The space between the eyebrows on a line with the top of the eye sockets.
PEEN – The end of a hammer head opposite the striking face.
PHOSPHENES – The lights you see when you close your eyes hard. Technically the luminous impressions are due to the excitation of the retina caused by pressure on the eyeball.
PURLICUE – The space between the thumb and extended forefinger.
RASCETA – Creases on the inside of the wrist.
ROWEL – The revolving star on the back of a cowboy’s spurs.
SADDLE – The rounded part on the top of a matchbook.
SCROOP – The rustle of silk.
SNORKEL BOX – A mailbox with a protruding receiver to allow people to deposit mail without leaving their cars.
SPRAINTS – Otter dung.
TANG – The projecting prong on a tool or instrument.