Web Watch

Want to toss few words at students and see what they do with them? Consider Wordnik.

The Web site offers a daily word in your e-mail box. Recent offerings include meiny, gowl and bedel. Wordnik calls itself “place for all the words, and everything known about them.”

It’s more than words and definitions. The site includes sample sentences, synonyms, antonyms, words that are used in the same contexts (what’s a cheeseburger without a milkshake?), images, statistics and audio pronunciation.

Even more fun: users can contribute citations, usage notes and comments.

Fair warning: “Wordnik reserves the right to delete or disemvowel inappropriate contributions. (Remember, spelling counts!)”

Erin McKean, former editor-in-chief for American Dictionaries at Oxford University Press is CEO and a co-founder.

* Web Watch is an occasional feature that spotlights sites of interest. E-mail your site suggestions for publication consideration to chronicl@westga.edu.