Dictionary: a malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic

PORTUGUESE, n.pl. A species of geese indigenous to Portugal. They are mostly without feathers and imperfectly edible, even when stuffed with garlic.

PAIN, n. An uncomfortable frame of mind that may have a physical basis in something that is being done to the body, or may be purely mental, caused by the good fortune of another.

FREEBOOTER, n. A conqueror in a small way of business, whose annexations lack of the sanctifying merit of magnitude.

IMPENITENCE, n. A state of mind intermediate in point of time between sin and punishment.

Appetite, n. An instinct thoughtfully implanted by Providence as a solution to the labor question.

KILT, n. A costume sometimes worn by Scotchmen in America and Americans in Scotland.