A man asked for a meal in a restaurant. The waiter brought the food and put it on the table. After a moment, the man called the waiter and said:
"Waiter! Waiter! There"s a fly in my soup!"
"Please don"t speak so loudly, sir," said the waiter, "or everyone will want one."
- correct an error in (a document etc.). [latin: related to *emend]
AMINE
n. Compound formed from ammonia by replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms by an organic radical or radicals.
AMINO
acid n. Biochem. Any of a group of nitrogenous organic acids occurring naturally in plant and animal tissues and forming the basic constituents of proteins. [from *amine, *acid]
AMISS
—predic. Adj. Wrong, out of order. —adv. Wrong(ly), inappropriately (everything went amiss). take amiss be offended by. [old norse à mis so as to miss]
AMITY
n. Friendship. [latin amicus friend]
AMONG
prep. (also amongst) 1 surrounded by, with (lived among the trees; be among friends).
- included in (among us were dissidents).
- in the category of (among his best works).
- a between; shared by (divide it among you). B from the joint resources of (among us we can manage it).
- with one another (talked among themselves). [old english, = in a crowd]
AMOUR
n. (esp. Secret) love affair. [french, = love]
- propre n. Self-respect. [french]
AMPLE
adj. (ampler, amplest) 1 a plentiful, abundant, extensive. B euphem. Large, stout.
- more than enough. amply adv. [latin amplus]
AMUCK
var. Of *amok.
AMUSE
v. (-sing) 1 cause to laugh or smile.
- interest or occupy. amusing adj. [french a cause to, muser stare]
