Make Your Point > Archived Issues > TRUNDLE

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connect today's word to others: In one of its literal senses, a trundle is a little wheel: a caster for rolling things on. Take the word trundle, change just a few letters, and you get t____: another word for "little wheel," but also a verb meaning "to yield or submit to people in a weak or timid way, as if you're sleeping on the floor below them, on a little bed on wheels." Could you recall that word? With trundle, we're focusing on another of its meanings: to trudge, to slog along, to shamble in, to go g___mphing back. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "TRUNDLE" Although "trundle" sometimes means "to roll" or "to twirl," today the most common meaning is to move or travel in a clumsy, heavy way. Pronunciation: TRUN dull Part of speech: Verb, usually the intransitive kind ("it trundles," "he trundled along," "that keeps trundling off") but sometimes the transitive kind ("she trundled the wheelbarrow," "they trundled us off into the dark night"). Other forms: trundled, trundling, trundler(s) How to use it: Often we talk literally about tanks, buses, trucks, and other bulky vehicles that trundle through cities, trundle across highways, trundle along, trundle away, trundle in, etc. If you talk about people or animals that trundle, you're saying that they're large and/or awkward in some way; for example, cows and oxen trundle, but songbirds don't. And you're often suggesting that they lack ferocity; for example, friendly cartoon dragons like Puff and Elliott trundle, but frightening CGI dragons like Smaug probably don't. Now for the good part, where we get figurative! If you can imagine something moving at a sluggish, awkward pace, you can say that it trundles, that it trundles away, that it trundles off into obscurity, etc. So you might talk about fads, ideas, plans, dreams, programs, projects, periods of time and so on that trundle. examples: Treebeard trundles the hobbits off, their pudgy feet balanced on his branches. "This is the reality of the revolution, I suppose – it’s a slow, trundling war of attrition, with the same issues cropping up again and again."    — Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian, 31 May 2018 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "trundle" without saying "slump away" or "lumber off." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "_____ doesn't (glide, swoop, float, or zip) along. It trundles." Example: "When I work on this project, my writing doesn't zip along. It trundles." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is "A Doodad Named After a Thingamajig." If I give you two categories, X and Y, can you think of an X that was named after a Y? We'll start off easy--these first few questions will have lots of correct answers each that you might think up--and we'll work our way toward harder questions that, as far as I know, have only one correct answer each. From the previous issue: Can you think of a restaurant named after a raw ingredient? Possible answers include Olive Garden, Sweet Tomatoes, Red Lobster, and Cheddar's. Oh, and Chili's--for the pepper, not the stew. :) Try this one today: Can you think of a color named after a flower? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of TRUNDLING is A. AVID. B. POISED. C. WIDESPREAD. 2. They're trundling along on this project at the pace of _____. A. startled gazelles B. tranquilized bears C. distracted squirrels Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. B