WORD OF THE DAY
Looking for a colorful word to describe brave or courageous action? Try derring-do! Your adventurous cousin's stories of derring-do might include climbing mountains, wrestling alligators, and bungee jumping.
This old-fashioned word is perfect if you want a funny way to talk about slightly reckless feats of bravery. A series of misprints and misunderstandings led to poet Edmund Spenser's interpretation of derrynge do (intended to mean "in daring to do") as a noun meaning "heroism." He used it that way in his epic poem, The Faerie Queene. Sir Walter Scott was the first to use derring-do as one word, in his 1820 novel Ivanhoe.
Want to expand your vocabulary?
Get Word of the Day delivered straight to your inbox!
Vocabulary lists containing derring-do
Byx believes she may be the last of the dairnes, a species of dog-like creatures, so she sets out on an epic journey to find others of her kind.
This novel traces an unconventional friendship between two boys living in New Hampshire in the 1950s and 60s.
Mr. Lemoncello invites teams from across the U.S. to compete in a first-ever Library Olympics, where they must solve puzzles and decipher clues to become champions of literature and his library.
Coop and his neighbor Jupiter are best friends — despite Coop's unrequited crush. But when Rae moves to town, she threatens to disrupt their friendship.
This riveting book tells the true story of a group of prisoners of war who escaped from Germany during World War I.
