Terrific Tuesday Tricksters: Mood -- Morn

So, how is YOUR week going? Is your Tuesday going to be terrible -- or terrific?

Let's all vote for terrific, shall we?

And let's see how many of these five pairs of Tricksters known as homophones -- words that sound alike (or nearly so) but are spelled differently and have different meanings -- you're familiar with.

Mood (n): an attitude; a feeling; a state of mind

Mooed (v.): past tense of "to moo"; what the cow did

More (adj): additional; extra (she needed more coffee); (adv.): something that is done or felt to a larger extent (she was more willing); (n.): a greater or additional quantity, number, degree, or amount (The more I see the ocean the more I like it.)

Moor (n.): a member of a Muslim people of Berber and Arab descent living in Northwest Africa; a large open marsh land; (v.): to secure something in place (to moor a boat)

Moose (n.): a large deer (Alces alces) of northern North American and Eurasian forests, having a broad, pendulous muzzle, humped shoulders, and large, palmate antlers in the male.

Mousse (n.): an airy pudding served chilled, particularly chocolate mousse; a savory dish, of meat or seafood, containing gelatin; a styling cream used for hair

Mordant (adj.): very sarcastic and painful wit or speech; (n.): a substance that attaches dyes to materials, or a corrosive substance used in etching

Mordent (n.): (music) An ornament consisting of a single alternation between a given pitch, and the one immediately below it

Morn (n.): short for morning, the beginning of the day; the dawn

Mourn (v.): to grieve; to feel sad at a loss; to lament

Were any of these new to you? I was surprised by mordant and mordent!

For more on these or any English word, check out www.YourDictionary.com, a terrific resource that shows words and their definitions in several dictionaries.

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