fulminate

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>fulminate</strong> &#149; \FULL-muh-nayt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Fulminate</em> means "to send forth harsh criticisms or insults."</p> <p>// The writer of the editorial <em>fulminated</em> against the corruption in the state government that has been recently uncovered.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fulminate">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Talking heads on both the right and the left now are <em>fulminating</em> about the labor shortage." — John Krull, <em>The Republic</em> (Columbus, Indiana), 28 July 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Lightning strikes more than once in the history of <em>fulminate</em>. That word comes from the Latin <em>fulminare</em>, meaning "to strike," a verb usually used to refer to lightning strikes—it is struck from <em>fulmen</em>, Latin for "lightning." When <em>fulminate</em> was taken up by English speakers in the 15th century, it lost much of its ancestral thunder and was used largely as a technical term for the issuing of formal denunciations by <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecclesiastical">ecclesiastical</a> authorities. In time, its original lightning spark returned, describing intense strikes of a tirade.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>