ME

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

Etymology and Comparison to Quiver

From quailJun 23, 2026

Excerpt from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

quailJun 23, 2026 — starts at 0:00

It's the Wd of the dayay for june twenty third upp for this podcast comes from Progressive, America's number one motorcycle insurer Did you know writers who switch and save with prorogressive save nearly two hundred dollars per year That's a whole new pair of writing gloves and more. quote today Progressive casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, National average twelve month savings of one hundred and ninety seven dollars by new customers surveyed who save with prorogressive between october twenty twenty four and september twenty twenty five Potential savings will vary Today's word is quail spelled Q U AI L.Qail is a verb. To quail is to feel afraid and often to show your fear in a way that can be clearly seen Here's the word used in a sentence from the Chicago Sun Times Several came to protest but didn't want their own voices cited A woman holding a sign reading, I'm a seventy seven year old Ganny for freedom, quailed at the prospect of having her photo in the newspaper Teturning to the noun quail, referring to any number of chicken related game birds for information about the verb quail is of little help The two are etymologically unrelated, and there's nothing specific in the behavior of quails to suggest the verb's meaning Never fear, the next time you hear quail, think quiver instead Although quail and quiver are also unrelated, they both start with a distinctive QU and have meanings involving a physical reaction to fear

This excerpt was generated by Smart Features

Listen to Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day in Podtastic

For listeners, not advertisers

All podcast names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Podcasts listed on Podtastic are publicly available shows distributed via RSS. Podtastic does not endorse nor is endorsed by any podcast or podcast creator listed in this directory.