This week's theme: ordinal words.
first water (furst WA-tuhr) noun
1. The highest degree of quality in a precious stone,
especially a diamond.
2. The best grade or quality.
[Transparency is highly desirable in diamonds, and when they are
nearly as transparent as water, they are known as diamonds of the
first water. As the transparency decreases, we get second or third
water. Hence figuratively, something or someone of the first water
is first grade, first class, or of the best in its class.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=first+water
-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
"In a too-rare appearance with the San Antonio Symphony on Friday,
pianist Horacio Gutierrez proved once again to be a romanticist
of the first water."
Pianist Delivers a Top-flight Show; San Antonio Express-News;
Mar 23, 2003.
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Whenever people say 'We mustn't be sentimental,' you can take it they are
about to do something cruel. And if they add 'We must be realistic,' they
mean they are going to make money out of it. -Brigid Brophy, writer
(1929-1995)
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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/first_water.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/first_water.ram
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