Okay, this was too rich to pass up! I cruised by Dictionary.com Sunday afternoon while preparing for a Monday afternoon class, and what did I find? A reference to Brian Teare's excelllent UC Press edition, Sight Map!
Sunday's "Word of the Day" was "ambsace," a noun meaning "the smallest amount of distance" or "the lowest throw at dice." To prove that this is, in fact, a word, our friends at Dictionary.com turned to the poets! Here's their example in context:
"Sleeping is thick arras or ambsace, like an alcatraz across water."
Brian Teare, Sight Map: Poems
I'm not sure this line fruitfully illustrates how to use the word, but it is a beautiful illustration of how poets keep the language alive!
Thanks for saving the language, Brian!
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