extricate

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 12, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>extricate</strong> &#149; \EK-struh-kayt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Extricate</em> means "to free or remove someone or something from an entanglement or difficulty."</p> <p>// Firefighters <em>extricated</em> the passengers from the wreckage.</p> <p>// The wife of the accused hired an attorney to <em>extricate</em> herself from the allegations brought against her husband.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extricate">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The skylight has been lifted off Toland Hall to create an opening large enough to <em>extricate</em> the panels by crane." — Sam Whiting, <em>The San Francisco Chronicle</em>, 31 Aug. 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Extricate</em> is used for the act of freeing someone or something from a tangled situation. Its spelling and meaning comes from Latin <em>extricatus</em>, which combines the prefix <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ex-#h6">ex-</a></em> ("out of") with the noun <em>tricae</em>, meaning "trifles or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perplexity">perplexities</a>." The resemblance of <em>tricae</em> to <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trick#etymology">trick</a></em> is no illusion—it's an ancestor.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>