INNUENDOS
Noun
innuendos
plural of innuendo
Anagrams
• dunniones
Source: Wiktionary
INNUENDO
In`nu*en"do, n.; pl. Innuedoes(. Etym: [L., by intimation, by
hinting, gerund of innuere, innutum, to give a nod, to intimate;
pref. in- in, to + -nuere (in comp.) to nod. See Nutation.]
1. An oblique hint; a remote allusion or reference, usually
derogatory to a person or thing not named; an insinuation.
Mercury . . . owns it a marriage by an innuendo. Dryden.
Pursue your trade of scandal picking; Your innuendoes, when you tell
us, That Stella loves to talk with fellows. Swift.
2. (Law)
Definition: An averment employed in pleading, to point the application of
matter otherwise unintelligible; an interpretative parenthesis thrown
into quoted matter to explain an obscure word or words; -- as, the
plaintiff avers that the defendant said that he (innuendo the
plaintiff) was a thief. Wharton.
Note: The term is so applied from having been the introductory word
of this averment or parenthetic explanation when pleadings were in
Latin. The word "meaning" is used as its equivalent in modern forms.
Syn.
– Insinuation; suggestion; hint; intimation; reference; allusion;
implication; representation; -- Innuendo, Insinuation. An innuendo is
an equivocal allusion so framed as to point distinctly at something
which is injurious to the character or reputation of the person
referred to. An insinuation turns on no such double use of language,
but consists in artfully winding into the mind imputations of an
injurious nature without making any direct charge.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition