PAIRS AND SNARES XXXV

The words in each group below can be confused. Can you give a simple definition of each one that shows the difference between them?

1. SHOAT - STOAT 

2. SCHIST - SCHISM

3. SALVER - SALVIA 

4. CAFTAN - CATKIN

5. ANALOG - DIGITAL

6. WITHER - WHITHER

7. PHONEME - MORPHEME

8. STALAGMITES - STALACTITES 

Answers:

 

1. SHOAT -  A newly weaned piglet

    STOAT -  A small mammal in the weasel family with a brown coat in summer and a white coat in winter, when it also known as an ermine

 

2. SCHIST -  A coarse-grained, layered rock

    SCHISM -  A split or division between strongly opposed  sections or parties

 

3. SALVER - A silver tray or platter

   SALVIA -  A widely distributed plant of the mint family

 

4. CAFTAN -  A woman's long, loose dress or a man's long belted tunic worn in countries of the Near East

   CATKIN -  A cylindrical flower cluster found on certain trees 

5. ANALOG - DIGITAL - - - Both are signals transmitting information. Analog signals are continuous and represented in waves. Digital signals are discrete and represented by distinct values (typically in the form of binary 0's and 1's).

 

6. WITHER - Shrivel up, cease to flourish

    WHITHER - (Archaic) - Where to? To what place or state? 

7. PHONEME - An independent sound that creates a contrast in meaning (p and b are phonemes in pit and bit)

    MORPHEME - The smallest part of a word that still has its own independent meaning

 

8. STALAGMITES - STALCTITES - Mineral formations that grow in caves and look like icicles - Stalagmites grow from the cave floor upward while stalactites grow from the ceiling downward. (A trick for remembering - stalaGmites (ground) -stalaCtites (ceiling)