cataract

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 10, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>cataract</strong> &#149; \KAT-uh-rakt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> a clouding of the lens of the eye or of its surrounding transparent membrane that obstructs the passage of light</p> <p><strong>2 a :</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waterfall">waterfall</a>; <em>especially</em> <strong>:</strong> a large one over a precipice</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> steep rapids in a river</p> <p><strong>c :</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/downpour">downpour</a>, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flood">flood</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"At the <em>cataracts</em> of the great rivers Orinoco, Nile, and Congo, the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syenitic">syenitic</a> rocks are coated by a black substance, appearing as if they had been polished with <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plumbago">plumbago</a>…. In the Orinoco it occurs on the rocks periodically washed by the floods, and in those parts alone where the stream is rapid…. — <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/944/944-h/944-h.htm">Charles Darwin, <em>The Voyage of the Beagle</em>, 1839</a></p> <p>"When <em>cataracts</em> form in your eye, proteins break down and form in clumps in the lens of the eye, creating cloudiness that can make vision blurred or obstructed." — <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/eye-health/cataract-surgery-complications">Rachael Zimlich, <em>Healthline</em>, 1 Apr. 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Cataract</em> dates to the 14th century and comes from the Latin word <em>cataracta</em>, meaning "<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portcullis">portcullis</a>." The Latin pertains to the ocular catara