PERILOUS

parlous, perilous, precarious, touch-and-go

(adjective) fraught with danger; “dangerous waters”; “a parlous journey on stormy seas”; “a perilous voyage across the Atlantic in a small boat”; “the precarious life of an undersea diver”; “dangerous surgery followed by a touch-and-go recovery”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

perilous (comparative more perilous, superlative most perilous)

Dangerous, full of peril.

Source: Wiktionary


Per"il*ous, a. Etym: [OF. perillous, perilleus, F. périlleux, L. periculosus. See Peril.] [Written also perillous.]

1. Full of, attended with, or involving, peril; dangerous; hazardous; as, a perilous undertaking. Infamous hills, and sandy, perilous wilds. Milton.

2. Daring; reckless; dangerous. [Obs.] Latimer. For I am perilous with knife in hand. Chaucer.

– Per"il*ous*ly, adv.

– Per"il*ous*ness, n.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

1 June 2025

BACKFIRE

(verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; “Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble”; “the political movie backlashed on the Democrats”


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Coffee Trivia

Espresso is both a coffee beverage and a brewing method that originated in Italy. When making an espresso, a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure forces through finely-ground coffee beans. It has more caffeine per unit volume than most coffee beverages. Its smaller serving size will take three shots to equal a mug of standard brewed coffee.

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