What's the Word Wednesday? That's Silly.

Some words sound silly. Here are three that made Storee laugh when she heard them the first time.

Diphthong
Quibble
Sluice

Before reading the definitions below can you guess what they mean?
Write a story using one or more of the words on the list.

diph·thong (d f thông , -th ng , d p -)

n.

A complex speech sound or glide that begins with one vowel and gradually changes to another vowel within the same syllable, as (oi) in boil

quib·ble (kw b l)

intr.v. quib·bled, quib·bling, quib·bles

1. To evade the truth or importance of an issue by raising trivial distinctions and objections.

2. To find fault or criticize for petty reasons; cavil.

n.

1. A petty distinction or an irrelevant objection.

2. Archaic A pun.

sluice (sl s)

n.

1.

a. An artificial channel for conducting water, with a valve or gate to regulate the flow: sluices connecting a reservoir with irrigated fields.

b. A valve or gate used in such a channel; a floodgate: open sluices to flood a dry dock. Also called sluice gate.

2. A body of water impounded behind a floodgate.

3. A sluiceway.

4. A long inclined trough, as for carrying logs or separating gold ore.

v. sluiced, sluic·ing, sluic·es

v.tr.

1. To flood or drench with or as if with a flow of released water.

2. To wash with water flowing in a sluice: sluicing sediment for gold.

3. To draw off or let out by a sluice: sluice floodwater.

4. To send (logs, for example) down a sluice.

v.intr.

To flow out from or as if from a sluice.