Word for the day: fog

fog  |fɒɡ|                                                     *niebla (en Español)

 
DEFINITION
noun1 a thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface that obscures or restricts visibility (to a greater extent than mist; strictly, reducing visibility to below 1 km): the collision occurred in thick fog.• [ in sing. ] an opaque mass of something in the atmosphere: a whirling fog of dust.• Photography cloudiness that obscures the image on a developed negative or print.2 [ in sing. ] something that obscures and confuses a situation or someone's thought processes: the origins of local government are lost in a fog of detail.

verb ( fogs, fogging , fogged )1 (with reference to a glass surface) cover or become covered with steam: [ with obj. ] : hot steam drifted about her, fogging upthe window | [ no obj. ] : the windshield was starting to fog up.• Photography make (a film, negative, or print) obscure or cloudy.2 bewilder or puzzle (someone): she stared at him, confusion fogging her brain.• make (an idea or situation) difficult to understand: the government has been fogging the issue.3 treat with something, esp. an insecticide, in the form of a spray: Winnipeg stopped fogging for mosquitoes three years ago.
PHRASES
in a fogin a state of perplexity; unable to think clearly or understand something.the fog of war confusion caused by the chaos of war or battle: he argues that the fog of war clouded everyone's judgment.
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: perhaps a back-formation from foggy.

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