Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SERRIED

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connect today's word to others: Any group of things that seem to stand or walk shoulder to shoulder, like soldiers in formation, can be called serried. It's a lovely word with a positive or neutral tone. See if you can recall a similar word, but with a harsh tone. It's l_cks__p, meaning "a rigid way of sticking closely together, like soldiers or prisoners on the march." Here's an example: "It was only when he called for violence that his supporters fell out of l_cks__p." (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "SERRIED" When things or people serry together, they gather in close together, into a tight formation. And when you serry things or people, you make them gather in close together.  So, serried things and people are gathered in close together, in a tight formation, like an orderly group of soldiers. Pronunciation: SAIR eed (Depending on where you're from, you might rhyme it with "buried" and "married.") Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a serried group." 2. After a linking verb, as in "The group was serried.") Other common forms: serry, serrying How to use it: When you want to say that things are closely packed together and orderly, like a group of soldiers all marching side by side in close formation, then talk about serried things, or serried rows, ranks, masses, arrays, battalions, or phalanxes of things. For example, you might talk about serried ranks of houses on a hill, serried rows of computers in a lab, serried headstones dotting a field, serried rows of silent students in a classroom, serried ranks of police officers, a serried array of cleaning products at Target, etc. Or, get abstract, and talk about the serried ranks of self-help writers, the serried rows of memories shared by you and your best friend, a serried phalanx of details that form a formidable argument, etc. examples: I realized why she calls it a battle station when I saw, filling an entire swath of the vanity, her serried mass of bottles, brushes, pencils, and tubes. Some days being Mom is easy; other days the Mom-worries come marching at me in a serried phalanx. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "serried" means when you can explain it without saying "shoulder to shoulder" or "in a troop-like formation." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "The serried chapters, sections, and subsections of a (type of) (book or textbook) belie the subject's true (complexity, mystery, controversy, contradictory nature, messiness, etc.)." Example: "The serried chapters, sections, and subsections of an introductory psychology textbook belie the subject's true complexity." 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. This month, we're playing with The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. It's a collection of silly, sarcastic, satirical definitions of everyday words, and--lucky us!--it's in the public domain. In each issue this month, I'll give you one of Bierce's definitions and, if it's a tough one, I'll give you the word's first letter. And you try to come up with the word. From our previous issue: Bierce defines it as "an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools." It's a noun. It starts with H. What is it? Answer: History. Try this today: Bierce defines it as "a kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the world’s worship. This Divine Being in some of his smaller and silkier incarnations takes, in the affection of Woman, the place to which there is no human male aspirant." It's a noun. What is it? review today's word: 1. One opposite of SERRIED is A. SCATTERED B. SMOOTH C. MOIST 2. When the curtains drew back I _____ serried _____. A. saw .. rows of expectant faces B. heard .. smatterings of encouragement C. felt .. gusts of wind from the oscillating fans 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. A 2. A