catamaran meaning sentence

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Meaning of catamaran in English

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• cabin cruiser
• dragon boat
• As soon as the boat anchored, a catamaran put out, and brought Charlie and his followers to shore.  
• Next morning we were visited by a party of natives from the neighbouring island, consisting of six men in a canoe, and one on a catamaran or raft.  
• Soon we were surrounded with catamarans and canoes, with three or four natives in each.  
• The horses and cows were taken on a species of catamaran, or large raft, that is much used in those mild seas, and which sail reasonably well a little off the wind, and not very badly on.  
• When we reached the lagoon, a catamaran with three natives on it came off to us.  

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procrastination

the act of delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring

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Definition of catamaran noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

All ENGLISH words that begin with 'C'

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Synonyms of catamaran

• as in yacht
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Thesaurus Definition of catamaran

Synonyms & Similar Words

• square - rigger

Examples of catamaran in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'catamaran.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Thesaurus Entries Near catamaran

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“Catamaran.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catamaran. Accessed 6 Sep. 2024.

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Nglish: Translation of catamaran for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about catamaran

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catamaran noun

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What does the noun catamaran mean?

There are four meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun catamaran , one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

catamaran has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the noun catamaran ?

How is the noun catamaran pronounced?

British english, u.s. english, where does the noun catamaran come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun catamaran is in the late 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for catamaran is from 1697, in the writing of William Dampier, buccaneer and explorer.

catamaran is a borrowing from Tamil.

Etymons: Tamil kaṭṭa-maram .

Nearby entries

• catalysis, n. 1655–
• catalysor, n. 1901–
• catalysotype, n. 1853–
• catalyst, n. 1902–
• catalytic, adj. & n. 1836–
• catalytical, adj. 1889–
• catalytically, adv. 1845–
• catalytic converter, n. 1955–
• catalytic cracker, n. 1951–
• catalytic cracking, n. 1927–
• catamaran, n. 1697–
• catamaran, v. 1820–
• catamenia, n. 1764–
• catamenial, adj. 1851–
• catamidiate, v. 1656
• catamite, n. ?1552–
• catamited, adj. 1697
• catamiting, adj. a1641–
• catamount, n. 1664–
• catamountain | cat o' mountain, n. ?a1475–
• catanadromous, adj. 1753

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for catamaran, n..

catamaran, n. was first published in 1889; not yet revised.

catamaran, n. was last modified in July 2023.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into catamaran, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1889)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View catamaran in OED Second Edition

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Citation details

Factsheet for catamaran, n., browse entry.

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catamaran in a sentence

Sentences mobile.

• Avoid the JetCat catamarans , which are too fast for sightseeing.
• A prototype, a sort of catamaran , has been tested.
• Windsurfing, catamaran sailing and parasailing are available on the beach.
• Blake and Peyron both employed big catamarans for their offshore exploits.
• Forensic specialists from the FBI checked the catamaran for clues Wednesday.
• A lot of them love flat-water sailing on catamarans .
• Dart catamarans are high-performance sailing dinghies with twin hulls.
• Catamarans are the most common type, with two symmetric hulls.
• During the second half of the 20th century catamaran designs flourished.
• Mega or super catamarans are those over 60 feet in length.
• It's difficult to see catamaran in a sentence .
• Faster catamaran ferries were used by Tranz Rail and its competitors.
• The catamarans crew of five were airlifted to safety by helicopter.
• In 2003, high-speed catamaran ferry service was introduced.
• It had a rigid sail design mounted on a catamaran hull.
• This marginally limits SWATH speed when compared to equivalent catamaran vessels.
• Most aft-mast sailboats are either catamarans , or trimarans.
• Fortunately, Jack reaches the island windsurfing on a makeshift catamaran .
• They then jump into the sea and swim to the catamarans .
• In 1951, he again caused surprise by designing a catamaran .
• In 2013, the port built passenger catamaran " Charlak ".
• More Sentences：  1   2    3

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Catamaran in a sentence

• 某某   2016-01-13 联网相关的政策
• imperative  (227+11)
• wreak  (49+2)
• defuse  (71+3)
• transgress  (18)
• resonant  (162+1)
• reprimand  (64+1)
• condemned  (254+18)
• viable  (180+11)
• bombshell  (58+3)
• futile  (111+10)
• rampant  (157+7)
• knapsack  (51)
• on the part of  (237+3)
• picket line  (24+2)
• herb garden  (17)
• contact  (264+52)
• advertise  (166+4)
• mature  (168+10)
• corporal  (127+6)
• lineage  (116+1)

Should serial killers serve multiple sentences consecutively? Winnipeg case ignites debate

4 life sentences for jeremy skibicki 'really means nothing' because they're concurrent: victim advocate.

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WARNING: This story contains details about violence against Indigenous women.

The brutal acts of a Winnipeg serial killer that left even the judge who handed him a life sentence calling that punishment inadequate have illuminated a debate over how long people convicted of multiple murders should wait before getting a chance to apply for parole.

Jeremy Skibicki, 37, was officially sentenced Wednesday after being convicted in July of first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women in 2022. While each charge carries a mandatory life sentence without a chance of parole for 25 years, a 2022 decision from the Supreme Court of Canada ruled those sentences must be served concurrently, not one after another.

That means Skibicki is in effect serving the same sentence he'd have gotten if he'd only been convicted of murdering one woman — which doesn't sit well with some.

"You may say that he has four sentences, but what does that really mean? It really means nothing, because he's serving them all at the same time," said Karen Wiebe, the executive director of the non-profit Manitoba Organization for Victim Assistance. Her 20-year-old son, TJ Wiebe, was murdered in 2003 .

That sentiment echoed ones shared outside the courthouse following Skibicki's sentencing, when family of one of the victims and Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said they would prefer to see his sentences served consecutively. 

If that was an option, it would mean the four 25-year parole ineligibility periods could be stacked, and Skibicki could remain in jail with no chance of parole for as long as 100 years.

• "'Shattered" doesn't explain how I feel': Sentencing for serial killer hears from families of murdered women

"I think that we just might have to change the legal system when it comes to consecutive sentencing, because he's got to be accountable for the four deaths that he committed," Merrick said, adding she's still confident that even though he'll be allowed to apply for parole after his 25-year period is up, Skibicki will "stay in that cell for the rest of his life."

In sentencing the murderer, Manitoba Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said while he agreed with the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling, he thinks it was "purposely silent" on whether the law could eventually be changed for future cases like this one — leaving the door open for "an even more serious sanction … for cases involving, for example, a serial killer."

But one legal expert says even though Skibicki will be allowed to apply for parole, the chance of him getting it is "virtually nonexistent," given the "horrific details" of his crimes, and their impact on victims' families and public safety, all of which the parole board will consider if he does apply.

But even for the worst offenders, for whom parole prospects are slim, "it's important for inmates to have some incentive to abide by prison rules and to have some hope for their future. Our [justice] system really depends on that," said Lisa Kerr, an associate law professor at Queen's University.

"It may be sort of an emotionally appealing thing to say 'we should not even have a hearing 25 years down the road,' but it would be a very dysfunctional change in terms of how the prison system operates."

Should the notwithstanding clause be used?

Kerr said the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to get rid of consecutive life sentences — introduced in 2011 legislation under Stephen Harper's Conservative government — wasn't about whether any particular offender deserves such an extreme punishment, but whether Canada should have to abide by any limits in the penalties it's allowed to give.

The old law was "a very blunt tool," she said, and deciding to bring it back now would be "betraying our values" as a country committed to constitutional rights, human dignity and rehabilitation.

• Winnipeg serial killer knew what he was doing was wrong, judge says

"It's important to remember this is a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court of Canada. There was no debate … because they understood the stakes here," Kerr said.

"They also understood that this does not mean that we can't impose very severe punishment [for serious offenders] … and keep them separate from us for the rest of his natural life."

But another legal expert says the high court's decision means "the ball is in Parliament's court now" to decide whether changes to the law are needed — and he thinks there's a "fairly realistic chance" that could include using  the notwithstanding clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms .

The Supreme Court's 2022 decision found that stacking consecutive blocks of parole ineligibility violated the Charter's prohibition on "cruel and unusual treatment or punishment."

But the notwithstanding clause allows governments to temporarily override other Charter sections. Using it in this instance would be sensible, said Brandon Trask, an assistant law professor at the University of Manitoba, since it would be "targeted just at the most heinous offences committed by individuals who not only killed — absolutely horrific on its own — but killed repeatedly."

Trask said he respects the Supreme Court's decision, but "respectfully disagree[s]" with its reasons — particularly their focus on the dignity of an offender.

"I view that as quite ironic in a case such as this," he told CBC's Information Radio host Marcy Markusa. "The focus on human dignity here does seem, in my personal view, somewhat misplaced."

However, Trask said he'd be "quite reluctant" to see the clause used repeatedly in the justice system — and even if it was tapped to change the law now, it wouldn't have the power to alter Skibicki's sentence.

• Government disagrees with top court's decision on gunman's parole but will respect it: Lametti

Debate over whether to use the notwithstanding clause to override the Supreme Court's decision — something Kerr said would be a "really extreme measure" — swirled long before Skibicki's sentencing, including a pledge from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to use it to reinstate the Harper-era law . 

Manitoba Progressive Conservative MLA Kelvin Goertzen also made a similar statement on social media following Skibicki's sentencing. 

Premier Wab Kinew said Skibicki "should never be free again," but added that any future parole hearings should take into account the impact of his killings.

Changes could delay 'horrifying' parole process

Trask also said having a longer parole ineligibility period for cases like Skibicki's would mean delaying or even preventing the difficult experience of participating in parole board hearings for victims' families.

Victim advocate Wiebe said that process is important but "horrifying," forcing victims and families to relive the trauma of what happened to them — and to be once again in the same room as the offender, if they choose to appear at the hearing.

A spokesperson for federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said at the time of the Supreme Court's decision on consecutive sentencing, the then attorney general "strongly defended and supported a sentencing judge's ability to impose a longer period of parole ineligibility." 

"As you know, the court rejected that position in its 9-0 decision," Anna Lisa Lowenstein said in an email. "We respect the court's independence and its unanimous decision."

Skibicki was convicted of killing Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois, and a still unidentified woman given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by community leaders. All four women were killed in Winnipeg between mid-March and May 2022, when Skibicki was arrested.

Harris, 39, and Myran, 26, were both members of Long Plain First Nation. Contois, 24, was from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, also known as Crane River. The woman known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe was believed to be in her 20s, and court determined based on the evidence she was also Indigenous.

• After killer found guilty in deaths of 4 women, families brace for 'heartbreaking' landfill search
• Province 'on track' for Prairie Green landfill search, has started hiring staff: premier

Skibicki confessed to the murders while he was being interrogated by Winnipeg police in 2022, telling them the killings were racially motivated. 

During the weeks-long trial, which was heard before a judge alone, Skibicki's lawyers argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. Joyal disagreed, saying comments Skibicki made during his confession showed the murders were deliberate and planned.

Contois's partial remains were found in garbage bins near Skibicki's apartment and at the Brady Road landfill in south Winnipeg.

A search for Harris's and Myran's remains — believed to be at the Prairie Green landfill just outside the city — is expected to start in the fall. The location of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's remains is unknown.

Support is available for anyone affected by these reports and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Immediate emotional assistance and crisis support are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national hotline at 1-844-413-6649.

You can also access, through the government of Canada, health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caitlyn Gowriluk has been writing for CBC Manitoba since 2019. Her work has also appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, and in 2021 she was part of an award-winning team recognized by the Radio Television Digital News Association for its breaking news coverage of COVID-19 vaccines. Get in touch with her at [email protected].

• Follow Caitlyn Gowriluk on X

With files from Sam Samson and Issa Kixen

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News | Hunter Biden pleads guilty to tax evasion —…

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News | Hunter Biden pleads guilty to tax evasion — and he has no deal

After a volley of legal arguments and objections from prosecutors, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty today to federal tax-evasion charges, just as jury selection was set to begin in the trial of the president’s son in downtown Los Angeles.

Biden, 54, of Malibu, made an open plea to the court, meaning there are no guarantees about what sentence he could receive. He admitted all nine charges he was facing — three felonies and six misdemeanors. U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden he could potentially face up to 15 years in prison along with fines ranging as high as $1 million.

Scarsi set sentencing for Dec. 16.

Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, initially said Biden wanted to enter what is known as an “Alford plea,” under which he pleads guilty but continues to maintain his innocence. Lowell said Biden recognized that prosecutors’ evidence was “overwhelming” and would likely lead to his conviction in a trial.

Prosecutor Leo Wise strongly objected to the idea of an Alford plea, insisting that Biden is demonstrably guilty, and it would be an injustice to allow him to maintain his innocence.

After multiple court recesses and legal discussions, Biden ultimately was sworn in to enter his open plea to the court, with his attorney saying Biden wanted to resolve the case — which dated back to a time when he was addicted to drugs.

Before the plea was officially entered, Wise insisted on reading the entire indictment against Biden, which is more than 50 pages, into the record.

Following the proceeding, Biden issued a statement saying he opted to enter the guilty plea to spare his family the grief of a trial.

“I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the anguish it would cause my family, and I will not put them through it again,” he said. “When it became clear to me that the same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction, there was only one path left for me. I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty.”

Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Thursday morning in Biden’s trial, and 100 prospective panelists were summoned to the downtown courthouse.

But Lowell’s surprise announcement that Biden was prepared to plead guilty upended those proceedings.

The indictment accused Biden of failing to pay more than $1.4 million in taxes. Prosecutors contended that Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.”

Defense lawyers said previously they believe the case was brought “in direct response to political pressure,” according to filings in Los Angeles federal court.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys said the defendant has repaid the government $2 million in back taxes and penalties. He was charged with evading a tax assessment, failing to file and pay taxes, and filing a false or fraudulent tax return.

His trial was expected to last two weeks, with opening statements anticipated Monday in the courtroom of Scarsi, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.

Evidence of the younger Biden’s partying during a period when he was admittedly using crack cocaine and allegedly willfully failed to pay more than $1.4 million in taxes were expected to become part of the trial, federal prosecutors indicated.

Scarsi previously rejected Hunter Biden’s bid to toss the case after the defendant sought to argue that David Weiss, the special counsel overseeing the prosecution, was improperly appointed.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Biden’s request to revive the bid to have the charges against him dismissed.

Regarding the tax charges, the 56-page indictment alleged that between 2016 and Oct. 15, 2020, “the defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.”

One of Hunter Biden’s attorneys, veteran Los Angeles criminal lawyer Mark Geragos, unsuccessfully petitioned the court to allow testimony that the death of the defendant’s mother and sister in a 1972 car crash and the death of his brother from cancer in 2015 caused him to ignore his tax obligations.

In June, Biden was convicted of three felony charges in a separate case brought in Delaware stemming from his 2018 purchase of a gun. He was found guilty of having lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs — when, in fact, he later admitted to having been addicted to illegal narcotics at the time.

Biden is scheduled to be sentenced in the Delaware gun case on Nov. 13, in the week after the presidential election.

Described in the indictment as a Georgetown- and Yale-educated lawyer, lobbyist, consultant and businessperson, Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian industrial conglomerate and a Chinese private equity fund during the time of the tax allegations.

“He negotiated and executed contracts and agreements for business and legal services that paid millions of dollars of compensation to him and/or his domestic corporations, Owasco PC and Owasco LLC,” according to the indictment for tax evasion.

In addition to his business interests, the defendant was an employee of a multinational law firm, the document states.

Hunter Biden has said he had forgotten to pay his taxes during a period when he was in the grip of drug addiction.

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Frank Bruni

Trump should be scared — very scared — of debating kamala harris.

By Frank Bruni

Mr. Bruni is a contributing Opinion writer who was on the staff of The Times for more than 25 years.

It’s easy to find examples of Vice President Kamala Harris answering questions in a vacuous, speciously thoughtful manner that borders on caricature, and it’s easy to conclude from that oratorical oatmeal that she has delayed a one-on-one sit-down with a serious journalist because she’s not nimble in unscripted situations or fluent in the necessary facts. Those are the Republican talking points, anyway.

But that assessment ignores her performance in a 2020 debate with the vice president at that time, Mike Pence. Remember it? A high-stakes encounter as risky as any interview with any network heavyweight, she did fine. Better than fine, in fact. Several post-debate surveys of viewers, including one published by 538 and another by CNN , found that Harris won it. Granted, Pence was contending with a fly’s decision to claim a time-share on his head, but still. He had been on the national political stage longer than she had, and she wasn’t buggy in the least.

Which is why Donald Trump’s recent complaints about and threats to back out of the planned ABC News debate on Sept. 10 make total sense. He should be hesitant. In fact, he should be scared.

For all his ludicrous boasting about his past debate performances, many of them have been laughable — some combination of puerile taunting, nonpareil lying, sulking, steaming, glaring and gloating. You know those cartoonish dances that football players do when they’ve breached the end zone in the fourth quarter of a close game? That’s Trump at the debate lectern, only he hasn’t scored a touchdown. Or even moved the ball so much as a millimeter downfield.

I’m referring to his antics amid his rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, in three face-offs with Hillary Clinton in the general election that year and in two face-offs with Joe Biden in the general election of 2020. (He skipped the 2024 Republican primary debates — wisely, given his lead over the other aspirants.)

Now imagine Trump against Harris. Imagine his insult and upset over having a lectern no bigger, a standing no taller and an invitation no more gleamingly embossed than a Black woman’s.

Actually, you don’t have to imagine it. His insistence that she’s inventing her crowd sizes , that she’s not really Black , that he’s prettier than she is and that she deposed Biden in some sort of coup — projection, anyone? — tells you all you need to know. So does his determined, sustained mispronunciation of her name , the phonetic equivalent of stomping his feet. All of that affirms that Harris rattles him in a particular and powerful way.

Which gives her a debating edge over him, assuming she can maintain the discipline and poise that she has demonstrated during her crash-course presidential campaign so far. The more she keeps her cool, the more he’ll lose his. His and her advisers know that: It’s why the Harris camp has pressed for each candidate’s microphone to be unmuted when the other is talking and the Trump camp has pushed for the opposite. Everyone involved (except maybe Trump) recognizes his combustibility; it’s just that one side wants to light a match while the other is looking for a fire extinguisher.

Harris is catching Trump at the perfect moment — for her — because he at times seems to be flaming out. He’s certainly committing odd flubs and making strange choices. You don’t win the news cycle by inventing helicopter rides and hush-hush conversations that never happened , and you don’t repel the “weird” label by linking arms with the animal-carcass fetishist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who would apparently be part of any Trump transition team along with … Tulsi Gabbard, the autocrat-loving former member of Congress . Trump, Kennedy, Gabbard: It’s the dinner party from hell. Or maybe the Donner party, given Trump’s frequent mooning over Hannibal Lecter .

He caught a break in his June 27 debate against Biden, whose shocking unsteadiness eclipsed Trump’s galling mendacity. But he’s unlikely to get that lucky again. Harris may well provide inadequate or unconvincing explanations of her many changed positions, and she may retreat to the comfort of gauzy platitudes. During the Democratic primary debates in 2019, she had both strong moments and weak ones — and by early 2020, before the Iowa caucuses, she was out of the race.

But none of her recent appearances augur a showing as confused as Biden’s two months ago. And they foretell a bearing more presidential than Trump’s.

That’s a low bar, admittedly. But that’s my point. Trump did himself no favors against Clinton in 2016 or Biden in 2020 . Why would he fare any better against Harris? She has vulnerabilities and shortcomings that a focused, fierce debater could take advantage of, but Trump has never been such a debater, and it’s impossible to believe that he’ll transform into one now. He’s older. He’s meaner, to the extent that that’s possible. He’s angrier (ditto).

And he’s harrumphing toward a humbling. Should be a riveting moment in an election year with no shortage of those.

For the Love of Sentences

In The Washington Post, Amanda Katz noted that Kennedy had terminated his presidential campaign and endorsed Trump, “ending a dilemma for voters torn between their love of deportation camps and their love of measles.” (Thanks to Jay Jasanoff of Cambridge, Mass., and Laurie Scudder of Baltimore, among many others, for nominating this.)

Also in The Post, Philip Bump questioned another columnist’s word choice: “The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan generously described the solipsism of the Republican convention as being what happens when you ‘cast your history aside.’ A bowling ball is not casting aside the pins’ history.” (Tom Cosgrove, Arlington, Va.)

In The Times, Rhonda Garelick identified a twist in the commentary about the Democratic Party’s vice-presidential nominee: “When have we ever seen a situation like this, where a top male politician is depicted as the cuddly, family person who loves working with kids? When he is scrutinized for signs of aging or compared unfavorably to handsome movie stars? Never. It’s almost as if Governor Walz is absorbing and wearing the very gendered traits and judgments that the vice president has managed to shrug off or deflect.” (Ilona Frieden, Oakland, Calif.)

Also in The Times, in a letter to the editor , Madeleine Berenson described her emotions — and optimism — after all the oratory and testimonials at the Democrats’ convention: “I felt like the lab beagle in one of those videos who sees grass and sunshine for the first time. Leaving the cage cautiously, confusedly at first, testing the unfamiliar surface under her feet, trying to understand the beauty of what was around her and then finally trusting it all and romping with unbridled joy.” (Susan Casey, Palm City, Fla.)

And David Firestone processed the prospect of Doug Emhoff as presidential spouse: “The idea that the country’s first first gentleman will be a schlubby and fundamentally decent guy they know so well, the guy behind them in the drop-off line at Jewish summer camp, is astonishing enough to make even secular Jews believe in a higher power with an enormous sense of humor.” (Peter Schmolka, Ottawa)

In The New Yorker, Helen Rosner sampled the classic fare at a nearly 90-year-old French restaurant in Manhattan that received a recent sprucing-up: “You can hardly go wrong, though it would be the height of tragedy if not one person at the table ordered the frogs’ legs persillade, a cancan line of amphibian gams in an audibly sizzling bath of butter and garlic that a server oomphs up, upon presentation, with a squeeze of lemon.” (Maryka Martin, Prevessin, France)

Also in The New Yorker, Patricia Marx went on the hunt for fabulous subterranean refuges for the apocalypse-minded: “After weeks of scrolling, I found a handful of dream hideaways on the market whose sellers were willing to let me take a tour. There were two bunkers in Montana, one of which sleeps at least 90; a prepper bunker in Missouri that features an inconspicuous entrance and a conspicuous arsenal of guns (not included in sale, but makes you think twice before criticizing the kitchen-countertop choice); a defunct missile-silo site in North Dakota; and a 20,000-square-foot cave in Arkansas used by its previous owner to raise earthworms. (Favorite bit of real-estate marketing copy: ‘The worm room speaks for itself.’)” (Nancy Chek, Silver Spring, Md.)

To nominate favorite bits of recent writing from The Times or other publications to be mentioned in “For the Love of Sentences,” please email me here and include your name and place of residence.

Bonus Regan Picture!

She never lasts more than 15 minutes, not in that fur coat of hers. But almost every cloudless day, sometime between our long, vigorous morning walk and our short, lazy afternoon one, Regan picks a spot in front of the house for a bit of sunbathing. Her limbs crumple. Her coat glistens. Drowsiness half-masts her eyes. I have half a mind to bring her an iced tea and some Coppertone. But then she’s back at the door, insistent on air-conditioning and angling for reacquaintance with it. Such a delicate princess. Zero idea where she gets that.

Retire These Words!

The other day a friend of mine mentioned that someone we knew was “sleeping with” someone else we knew.

“Queen, king, platform, trundle?” I asked.

“Excuse me?” my friend responded.

“Since we’re talking about sleeping,” I said, “I was curious about the size and type of bed.”

Of course we weren’t talking about sleeping. So why use the language of slumber?

As Robyn Schanzenbach of Missoula, Mont., wrote to me a while back, “I could scream every time I read that Trump slept with Stormy Daniels. No, I don’t think he did.”

We can be such prudes. Such children.

On the prudish side, we trot out simpering euphemisms like “they’re sleeping together” or “they’re intimate” when we’re referring to fornication, erotic play, grinding, s ex. I sleep nightly with Regan. I’ve slept with extra pillows, with earplugs, with my sister on vacations when beds were scarce. None of those nighttime or nap-time companions were objects of my lust. I’ve been intimate (“marked by a warm friendship developing through long association,” according to the first definition of the word in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary) with many people I’ve never even kissed.

On the childish side, there are musty locutions like “bumping uglies” (one of my favorites) and modern ones like “hooking up.” People treat saying “sex” as some hex. Or as some terrible breach of etiquette that will cause listeners to cough up their cucumber sandwiches.

Please. We’re adults here. We have sex — with the right people, with the wrong people, clumsily, efficiently, often, rarely, to procreate, to recreate. Even when it’s a snooze, it’s not really a snooze.

“Retire These Words!” is an occasional feature about overused, oddly used, erroneously used or just plain annoying locutions. It appears every few months. Its last installment was in this newsletter .

Frank Bruni is a professor of journalism and public policy at Duke University, the author of the book “The Age of Grievance” and a contributing Opinion writer. He writes a weekly email newsletter .   Instagram   Threads   @ FrankBruni • Facebook