a former instrument of punishment consisting of a heavy timber frame with holes in which the feet (and sometimes the hands) of an offender could be locked
a frame for constraining an animal while it is receiving veterinary attention or while being shod
a frame that supports a boat while it is under construction
something that provides access (to get in or get out); "they waited at the entrance to the garden"; "beggars waited just outside the entryway to the cathedral"
a person who has fallen into a decadent state (morally or artistically)
marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay; "a decadent life of excessive money and no sense of responsibility"; "a group of effete self-professed intellectuals"
a situation in which life seems irrational and meaningless; "The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth"--Albert Camus
inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense; "the absurd predicament of seeming to argue that virtue is highly desirable but intensely unpleasant"- Walter Lippman
incongruous;inviting ridicule; "the absurd excuse that the dog ate his homework"; "that's a cockeyed idea"; "ask a nonsensical question and get a nonsensical answer"; "a contribution so small as to be laughable"; "it is ludicrous to call a cottage a mansion"; "a preposterous attempt to turn back the pages of history"; "her conceited assumption of universal interest in her rather dull children was ridiculous"
a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens; "the new cameras adjust the diaphragm automatically"
electro-acoustic transducer that vibrates to receive or produce sound waves
a contraceptive device consisting of a flexible dome-shaped cup made of rubber or plastic; it is filled with spermicide and fitted over the uterine cervix
(anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration
the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
a single whole grain of a cereal; "a kernel of corn"
the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone; "black walnut kernels are difficult to get out of the shell"