Verboticism: Nighthowl

DEFINITION: n. Strange sounds that keep you awake in the middle of the night. v. To lie in bed unable to sleep because you keep hearing weird sounds.

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Noxomatopoeia

Created by: OZZIEBOB

Pronunciation: nokso-mat-uh-PEE-uh

Sentence: "What was that? A loose floor board? Is someone's downstairs? Did I lock the back door? Is there someone on the stairs?" With every strange sound my fear grows. My mind exaggerates the dangers of the noises of the night; I hear dust bouncing on the carpet, and spiders weaving cable-sized webs. Elephant-eared, heart-racing, and stock still, I lie awake in fear of who and what is lurking. Out of the silence, my already fragile peace of mind is further shaken by the creaking groans of the aging house's arthritic joints. Slowly, quietness returns; my eyes close; suddenly my tranquility is broken by Roxie, "Here's your tea and toast, love." Relieved to awake alive, I chat along. " Helluva noise in the street, last night." "Oh, was there!" she replies, "I slept like a babe; didn't hear a thing. Must have been your noxomatopoeia, again".

Etymology: Blend of L. NOCT, NOX: night & ONOMATOPOEIA: formation of a word, such as clink, creak, ping by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent.

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COMMENTS:

nice formation - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-12: 13:53:00

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Knockturnals

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: nok turn als

Sentence: When Velma went to bed that night, she awoke later to strange noises. At about three a.m. she could hear the knockturnals very clearly. Although scared, she finally got up and crept towards the sound. That's when she discovered that her cat, Tomahawk, had learned how to rap on the back door to get back in, rather than trying to squeeze his massive body through the cat flap. Oh well, she thought it was better than him learning how to use the doorbell...

Etymology: Knock (make light, repeated taps on a surface) & Nocturnal (at night)

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Insomniyaketyyak

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: in/som/ni/yaketee/yak

Sentence: Sally couldn't get any sleep because her partner talked constantly. She was a victim of insomniyaketyyak

Etymology: insomniac + yakety yak

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Nocturnemanations

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: nock - tern - em - uh - NAY - shuns

Sentence: The nocturnemanations that continuously emitted from the walls, the outdoors, the attic and unseen places kept Gladys on edge thru the night and made sleep impossible.

Etymology: Blend of nocturnal and emanations.

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COMMENTS:

a bit of a tongue twister but nice blend - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-12: 13:55:00

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Soundawake

Created by: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Sownd-a-wayk

Sentence: No wonder Mary was soundawake, it as all her own fault for hearing spooky noises in the middle of the night. She vowed never to watch horror films when she was alone ever again.

Etymology: Sound (Virbrations sensed by the ear) Awake (Not asleep, past-awoken) Opposite of sound asleep

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COMMENTS:

I liked this one. The only problem - if you don't immdiately catch the underlying connection to 'sound-asleep' it seems like an overly-simple response to the definition, (i.e. it may seem, at first, like you picked 2 words from the definition and stuck them together). Gets my vote though, for the clever double-meaning wordplay. - Tigger, 2008-05-13: 01:21:00

How true! Reminds me of a fairly recent film, "Eyes Wide Shut". Excellent word! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-13: 07:19:00

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Hillaryhead

Created by: looseball

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Slumberrupt

Created by: Rutilus

Pronunciation: Slum-ber-rup-t

Sentence: The annoying drip drip drip of that loose tap had left Kelly slumberrupted for days. Was it really that difficult to find a decent plumber in this town?!

Etymology: Slumber - sleep; interrupt - to stop/delay

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COMMENTS:

Excellent! - Mustang, 2008-05-12: 23:09:00

Yep, good word! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-13: 07:24:00

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Insominous

Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: in-som-i-nus

Sentence: Mary became insominous after she moved into her new apartment and heard the creepy noises. It was especially alarming when the Paranormal Society asked to film an episode of "Ghost Hunters" in her bedroom.

Etymology: insomnia: an inability to fall asleep or remain asleep + ominous: a frightening awareness of danger, an evil portent

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COMMENTS:

good word! - splendiction, 2009-06-24: 19:23:00

Very good! - Mustang, 2009-06-25: 01:18:00

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