Onca’s Dream

Few and far between

Main Entry: ²few

Function: adjective

Date: before 12th century

1 : consisting of or amounting to only a small number <one of our few pleasures>
2 : at least some but indeterminately small in number —used with a <caught a few fish>

— few·ness noun

— few and far between : few in number and infrequently met : rare

few and far between

very few; few and widely scattered. Get some gasoline now. Service stations on this highway are few and far between. Some people think that good movies are few and far between.

Extravagate

Main Entry: ex·trav·a·gate

Pronunciation: \ik-ˈstra-və-ˌgāt\

Function: intransitive verb

Inflected Form(s): ex·trav·a·gat·ed; ex·trav·a·gat·ing

Date: circa 1755

archaic : to go beyond proper limits

extravagate [ɪkˈstrævəˌgeɪt]

vb (intr) Archaic

1. to exceed normal limits or propriety

2. to roam at will

[from Latin extravagārī; see extravagant]

extravagation  n

Foundling

Main Entry: found·ling

Pronunciation: \ˈfau̇n(d)-liŋ\

Function: noun

Date: 14th century

: an infant found after its unknown parents have abandoned it

“The interesting penitent (expecting Lady Janet’s visit) was, of course, discovered in a touching domestic position! She had a foundling baby asleep on her lap; and she was teaching the alphabet to an ugly little vagabond girl whose acquaintance she had first made in the street. Just the sort of artful tableau vivant to impose on an old lady –was it not?  The New Magellan, Wilkie Collins

Hit-or-miss

Main Entry: hit or miss

Function: adverb

Date: 1606

: in a hit-or-miss manner : haphazardly

Follow one’s nose

Main Entry: ¹fol·low

Pronunciation: \ˈfä-(ˌ)lō\

Function: verb

Etymology: Middle English folwen, from Old English folgian; akin to Old High German folgēn to follow

Date: before 12th century

Primrose path

Main Entry: primrose path

Function: noun

Date: 1601

1 : a path of ease or pleasure and especially sensual pleasure <himself the primrose path of dalliance treads — Shakespeare >
2 : a path of least resistance

Peripatetic

Main Entry: ¹peri·pa·tet·ic

Pronunciation: \ˌper-ə-pə-ˈte-tik\

Function: noun

Date: 15th century

1 capitalized : a follower of Aristotle or adherent of Aristotelianism
2 : pedestrian, itinerant
3 plural : movement or journeys hither and thither

per·i·pa·tet·ic (p r -p -t t k)

adj.

1. Walking about or from place to place; traveling on foot.

2. Peripatetic Of or relating to the philosophy or teaching methods of Aristotle, who conducted discussions while walking about in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

n.

Fancy-free

Main Entry: fan·cy–free

Pronunciation: \ˌfan(t)-sē-ˈfrē\

Function: adjective

Date: 1590

1 : free from amorous attachment or engagement <footloose and fancy–free>
2 : free to imagine or fancy

OBERON:
That very time I saw, but thou couldst not,
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid all arm’d: a certain aim he took
At a fair vestal throned by the west,
And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts;
But I might see young Cupid’s fiery shaft
Quench’d in the chaste beams of the watery moon,
And the imperial votaress passed on,
In maiden meditation, fancy-free.

I fain would take the zither,

By some stray fancy led;

But there are none to hear me,

And who can charm the dead?

A Lute of Jade by Cranmer-Byng, L.

Peregrinate – Part One

Main Entry: per·e·gri·nate

Pronunciation: \ˈper-ə-grə-ˌnāt\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): per·e·gri·nat·ed; per·e·gri·nat·ing

Date: 1593

intransitive verb : to travel especially on foot : walktransitive verb : to walk or travel over : traverse

— per·e·gri·na·tion \ˌper-ə-grə-ˈnā-shən\ noun